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Sample records for auditory thalamocortical connections

  1. Development of thalamocortical connectivity during infancy and its cognitive correlations.

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    Alcauter, Sarael; Lin, Weili; Smith, J Keith; Short, Sarah J; Goldman, Barbara D; Reznick, J Steven; Gilmore, John H; Gao, Wei

    2014-07-02

    Although commonly viewed as a sensory information relay center, the thalamus has been increasingly recognized as an essential node in various higher-order cognitive circuits, and the underlying thalamocortical interaction mechanism has attracted increasing scientific interest. However, the development of thalamocortical connections and how such development relates to cognitive processes during the earliest stages of life remain largely unknown. Leveraging a large human pediatric sample (N = 143) with longitudinal resting-state fMRI scans and cognitive data collected during the first 2 years of life, we aimed to characterize the age-dependent development of thalamocortical connectivity patterns by examining the functional relationship between the thalamus and nine cortical functional networks and determine the correlation between thalamocortical connectivity and cognitive performance at ages 1 and 2 years. Our results revealed that the thalamus-sensorimotor and thalamus-salience connectivity networks were already present in neonates, whereas the thalamus-medial visual and thalamus-default mode network connectivity emerged later, at 1 year of age. More importantly, brain-behavior analyses based on the Mullen Early Learning Composite Score and visual-spatial working memory performance measured at 1 and 2 years of age highlighted significant correlations with the thalamus-salience network connectivity. These results provide new insights into the understudied early functional brain development process and shed light on the behavioral importance of the emerging thalamocortical connectivity during infancy. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/349067-09$15.00/0.

  2. Reduced modulation of thalamocortical connectivity during exposure to sensory stimuli in ASD.

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    Green, Shulamite A; Hernandez, Leanna; Bookheimer, Susan Y; Dapretto, Mirella

    2017-05-01

    Recent evidence for abnormal thalamic connectivity in autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and sensory processing disorders suggests the thalamus may play a role in sensory over-responsivity (SOR), an extreme negative response to sensory stimuli, which is common in ASD. However, there is yet little understanding of changes in thalamic connectivity during exposure to aversive sensory inputs in individuals with ASD. In particular, the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus is implicated in atypical sensory processing given its role in selective attention, regulation, and sensory integration. This study aimed to examine the role of pulvinar connectivity in ASD during mildly aversive sensory input. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was used to examine connectivity with the pulvinar during exposure to mildly aversive auditory and tactile stimuli in 38 youth (age 9-17; 19 ASD, 19 IQ-matched typically developing (TD)). Parents rated children's SOR severity on two standard scales. Compared to TD, ASD participants displayed aberrant modulation of connectivity between pulvinar and cortex (including sensory-motor and prefrontal regions) during sensory stimulation. In ASD participants, pulvinar-amygdala connectivity was correlated with severity of SOR symptoms. Deficits in modulation of thalamocortical connectivity in youth with ASD may reflect reduced thalamo-cortical inhibition in response to sensory stimulation, which could lead to difficulty filtering out and/or integrating sensory information. An increase in amygdala connectivity with the pulvinar might be partially responsible for deficits in selective attention as the amygdala signals the brain to attend to distracting sensory stimuli. Autism Res 2017, 10: 801-809. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. Thalamic connections of the core auditory cortex and rostral supratemporal plane in the macaque monkey.

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    Scott, Brian H; Saleem, Kadharbatcha S; Kikuchi, Yukiko; Fukushima, Makoto; Mishkin, Mortimer; Saunders, Richard C

    2017-11-01

    In the primate auditory cortex, information flows serially in the mediolateral dimension from core, to belt, to parabelt. In the caudorostral dimension, stepwise serial projections convey information through the primary, rostral, and rostrotemporal (AI, R, and RT) core areas on the supratemporal plane, continuing to the rostrotemporal polar area (RTp) and adjacent auditory-related areas of the rostral superior temporal gyrus (STGr) and temporal pole. In addition to this cascade of corticocortical connections, the auditory cortex receives parallel thalamocortical projections from the medial geniculate nucleus (MGN). Previous studies have examined the projections from MGN to auditory cortex, but most have focused on the caudal core areas AI and R. In this study, we investigated the full extent of connections between MGN and AI, R, RT, RTp, and STGr using retrograde and anterograde anatomical tracers. Both AI and R received nearly 90% of their thalamic inputs from the ventral subdivision of the MGN (MGv; the primary/lemniscal auditory pathway). By contrast, RT received only ∼45% from MGv, and an equal share from the dorsal subdivision (MGd). Area RTp received ∼25% of its inputs from MGv, but received additional inputs from multisensory areas outside the MGN (30% in RTp vs. 1-5% in core areas). The MGN input to RTp distinguished this rostral extension of auditory cortex from the adjacent auditory-related cortex of the STGr, which received 80% of its thalamic input from multisensory nuclei (primarily medial pulvinar). Anterograde tracers identified complementary descending connections by which highly processed auditory information may modulate thalamocortical inputs. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Thalamocortical functional connectivity in Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is abnormally enhanced in executive-control and default-mode networks.

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    Warren, Aaron E L; Abbott, David F; Jackson, Graeme D; Archer, John S

    2017-12-01

    To identify abnormal thalamocortical circuits in the severe epilepsy of Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) that may explain the shared electroclinical phenotype and provide potential treatment targets. Twenty patients with a diagnosis of LGS (mean age = 28.5 years) and 26 healthy controls (mean age = 27.6 years) were compared using task-free functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The thalamus was parcellated according to functional connectivity with 10 cortical networks derived using group-level independent component analysis. For each cortical network, we assessed between-group differences in thalamic functional connectivity strength using nonparametric permutation-based tests. Anatomical locations were identified by quantifying spatial overlap with a histologically informed thalamic MRI atlas. In both groups, posterior thalamic regions showed functional connectivity with visual, auditory, and sensorimotor networks, whereas anterior, medial, and dorsal thalamic regions were connected with networks of distributed association cortex (including the default-mode, anterior-salience, and executive-control networks). Four cortical networks (left and right executive-control network; ventral and dorsal default-mode network) showed significantly enhanced thalamic functional connectivity strength in patients relative to controls. Abnormal connectivity was maximal in mediodorsal and ventrolateral thalamic nuclei. Specific thalamocortical circuits are affected in LGS. Functional connectivity is abnormally enhanced between the mediodorsal and ventrolateral thalamus and the default-mode and executive-control networks, thalamocortical circuits that normally support diverse cognitive processes. In contrast, thalamic regions connecting with primary and sensory cortical networks appear to be less affected. Our previous neuroimaging studies show that epileptic activity in LGS is expressed via the default-mode and executive-control networks. Results of the present study suggest that

  5. Linking topography to tonotopy in the mouse auditory thalamocortical circuit

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    Hackett, Troy A; Rinaldi Barkat, Tania; O'Brien, Barbara M J

    2011-01-01

    The mouse sensory neocortex is reported to lack several hallmark features of topographic organization such as ocular dominance and orientation columns in primary visual cortex or fine-scale tonotopy in primary auditory cortex (AI). Here, we re-examined the question of auditory functional topography...... the tonotopic axis in the slice produced an orderly shift of voltage-sensitive dye (VSD) signals along the AI tonotopic axis, demonstrating topography in the mouse thalamocortical circuit that is preserved in the slice. However, compared with BF maps of neuronal spiking activity, the topographic order...... of subthreshold VSD maps was reduced in layer IV and even further degraded in layer II/III. Therefore, the precision of AI topography varies according to the source and layer of the mapping signal. Our findings further bridge the gap between in vivo and in vitro approaches for the detailed cellular study...

  6. Thalamocortical Connectivity and Microstructural Changes in Congenital and Late Blindness

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    Reislev, N H; Dyrby, Tim Bjørn; Siebner, H. R.

    2017-01-01

    There is ample evidence that the occipital cortex of congenitally blind individuals processes nonvisual information. It remains a debate whether the cross-modal activation of the occipital cortex is mediated through the modulation of preexisting corticocortical projections or the reorganisation...... of thalamocortical connectivity. Current knowledge on this topic largely stems from anatomical studies in animal models. The aim of this study was to test whether purported changes in thalamocortical connectivity in blindness can be revealed by tractography based on diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging...... network between congenitally blind individuals, late blind individuals, and normal sighted controls, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) indices revealed significant microstructural changes within thalamic clusters of both blind groups. Furthermore, we find a significant decrease in fractional anisotropy (FA...

  7. Thalamocortical dysrhythmia: a theoretical update in tinnitus

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    Dirk eDe Ridder

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available Tinnitus is the perception of a sound in the absence of an external sound source. Pathophysiologically it has been attributed to bottom up deafferentation and/or top down noise-cancelling deficit. Both mechanisms are proposed to alter auditory thalamocortical signal transmission resulting in thalamocortical dysrhythmia (TCD. In deafferentation, TCD is characterized by a slowing down of resting state alpha to theta activity associated with an increase in surrounding gamma activity, resulting in persisting cross-frequency coupling between theta and gamma activity. Theta burst-firing increases network synchrony and recruitment, a mechanism which might enable long range synchrony, which in turn could represent a means for finding the missing thalamocortical information and for gaining access to consciousness. Theta oscillations could function as a carrier wave to integrate the tinnitus related focal auditory gamma activity in a consciousness enabling network, as envisioned by the global workspace model. This model suggests that focal activity in the brain does not reach consciousness, except if the focal activity becomes functionally coupled to a consciousness enabling network, aka the global workspace. In limited deafferentation the missing information can be retrieved from the auditory cortical neighborhood, decreasing surround inhibition, resulting in TCD. When the deafferentation is too wide in bandwidth it is hypothesized that the missing information is retrieved from theta mediated parahippocampal auditory memory. This suggests that based on the amount of deafferentation TCD might change to parahippocampo-cortical persisting and thus pathological theta-gamma rhythm. From a Bayesian point of view, in which the brain is conceived as a prediction machine that updates its memory-based predictions through sensory updating, tinnitus is the result of a prediction error between the predicted and sensed auditory input. The decrease in sensory updating

  8. Thalamo-cortical activation and connectivity during response preparation in adults with persistent and remitted ADHD.

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    Clerkin, Suzanne M; Schulz, Kurt P; Berwid, Olga G; Fan, Jin; Newcorn, Jeffrey H; Tang, Cheuk Y; Halperin, Jeffrey M

    2013-09-01

    The neural correlates of stimulus-driven processes, such as response preparation, have been posited to be associated with the onset of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) while being distinct from the neural mechanisms associated with recovery. The authors tested this hypothesis in adults with remitted and persistent ADHD. Thirty-eight young adults who were diagnosed with combined-type ADHD in childhood (probands) and 32 carefully matched comparison subjects were followed longitudinally and scanned with functional MRI while performing an event-related cued reaction time task. Probands were characterized as individuals with persistent or remitted ADHD. Differences in thalamo-cortical activation and functional connectivity during response preparation between comparison subjects and probands and between individuals with persistent ADHD and those with remitted ADHD were assessed by contrasting neural activation and functional connectivity during cue or noncue events. Probands exhibited less cue-related activation than comparison subjects in the thalamus, anterior cingulate cortex, supplementary motor area, inferior parietal lobe, and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex despite similar overall patterns of activation. There were no differences in activation between individuals in the remitted ADHD group and those in the persistent ADHD group in any hypothesized regions. However, cue-related functional connectivity between the right thalamus and brainstem was greater in comparison subjects relative to probands, and cue-related connectivity was greater between the right thalamus and prefrontal regions in individuals with remitted ADHD relative to those with persistent ADHD. Decreased thalamo-cortical activation during response preparation was present in adults diagnosed with ADHD in childhood regardless of symptom remission in adulthood, and may be partly driven by less functional coordination between the brainstem and thalamus. Greater functional integration of the

  9. Presurgical thalamocortical connectivity is associated with response to vagus nerve stimulation in children with intractable epilepsy

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    George M. Ibrahim

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Although chronic vagus nerve stimulation (VNS is an established treatment for medically-intractable childhood epilepsy, there is considerable heterogeneity in seizure response and little data are available to pre-operatively identify patients who may benefit from treatment. Since the therapeutic effect of VNS may be mediated by afferent projections to the thalamus, we tested the hypothesis that intrinsic thalamocortical connectivity is associated with seizure response following chronic VNS in children with epilepsy. Twenty-one children (ages 5–21 years with medically-intractable epilepsy underwent resting-state fMRI prior to implantation of VNS. Ten received sedation, while 11 did not. Whole brain connectivity to thalamic regions of interest was performed. Multivariate generalized linear models were used to correlate resting-state data with seizure outcomes, while adjusting for age and sedation status. A supervised support vector machine (SVM algorithm was used to classify response to chronic VNS on the basis of intrinsic connectivity. Of the 21 subjects, 11 (52% had 50% or greater improvement in seizure control after VNS. Enhanced connectivity of the thalami to the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC and left insula was associated with greater VNS efficacy. Within our test cohort, SVM correctly classified response to chronic VNS with 86% accuracy. In an external cohort of 8 children, the predictive model correctly classified the seizure response with 88% accuracy. We find that enhanced intrinsic connectivity within thalamocortical circuitry is associated with seizure response following VNS. These results encourage the study of intrinsic connectivity to inform neural network-based, personalized treatment decisions for children with intractable epilepsy.

  10. Increased thalamic resting-state connectivity as a core driver of LSD-induced hallucinations.

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    Müller, F; Lenz, C; Dolder, P; Lang, U; Schmidt, A; Liechti, M; Borgwardt, S

    2017-12-01

    It has been proposed that the thalamocortical system is an important site of action of hallucinogenic drugs and an essential component of the neural correlates of consciousness. Hallucinogenic drugs such as LSD can be used to induce profoundly altered states of consciousness, and it is thus of interest to test the effects of these drugs on this system. 100 μg LSD was administrated orally to 20 healthy participants prior to fMRI assessment. Whole brain thalamic functional connectivity was measured using ROI-to-ROI and ROI-to-voxel approaches. Correlation analyses were used to explore relationships between thalamic connectivity to regions involved in auditory and visual hallucinations and subjective ratings on auditory and visual drug effects. LSD caused significant alterations in all dimensions of the 5D-ASC scale and significantly increased thalamic functional connectivity to various cortical regions. Furthermore, LSD-induced functional connectivity measures between the thalamus and the right fusiform gyrus and insula correlated significantly with subjective auditory and visual drug effects. Hallucinogenic drug effects might be provoked by facilitations of cortical excitability via thalamocortical interactions. Our findings have implications for the understanding of the mechanism of action of hallucinogenic drugs and provide further insight into the role of the 5-HT 2A -receptor in altered states of consciousness. © 2017 The Authors Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  11. Precise Somatotopic Thalamocortical Axon Guidance Depends on LPA-Mediated PRG-2/Radixin Signaling

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    Cheng, Jin; Sahani, Sadhna; Hausrat, Torben Johann

    2016-01-01

    Precise connection of thalamic barreloids with their corresponding cortical barrels is critical for processing of vibrissal sensory information. Here, we show that PRG-2, a phospholipid-interacting molecule, is important for thalamocortical axon guidance. Developing thalamocortical fibers both...

  12. Altered structural and functional thalamocortical networks in secondarily generalized extratemporal lobe seizures

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    Syu-Jyun Peng

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Structural and functional abnormalities in the thalamocortical network in primary generalized epilepsies or mesial temporal lobe epilepsy have recently been identified by voxel-wise analyses of neuroimaging. However, evidence is needed regarding the profiles of the thalamocortical network in patients with secondarily generalized seizures from focal neocortical sources. We used high-resolution T1-weighted, diffusion-tensor and resting-state functional MR imaging (rs-fMRI to examine 16 patients with secondarily generalized extratemporal lobe seizures and 16 healthy controls. All the patients were medically effective and MRI-negative. Using whole brain voxel-based morphometry (VBM to compare the patients with the normal controls, we observed significantly decreased gray matter (GM density in the thalamus and 3 frontal gyri and significantly reduced white matter (WM fractional anisotropy (FA in the bilateral anterior corona radiata of the patients. Alterations in the thalamocortical functional connectivity with different cortices were identified by the rs-fMRI analysis seeding of the whole thalamus. The prefrontal gyri with the greatest functional connectivity were also traced by seeding a sub-thalamic region that is demarcated in an atlas, in which the thalamic parcellation is based on the WM connectivity to the cortices. This sub-thalamic region anatomically contains the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus where, concordantly, there was a significant decrease in thalamic GM density in the VBM study. In contrast to the negative correlation between the disease duration and reduced thalamic densities and subcortical FA values, the strength of the functional thalamocortical connectivity had a paradoxical correlation. Our results conclusively indicate that generalized seizures with a focal cortical source are associated with structural and functional alterations in the thalamocortical network.

  13. Auditory and visual connectivity gradients in frontoparietal cortex.

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    Braga, Rodrigo M; Hellyer, Peter J; Wise, Richard J S; Leech, Robert

    2017-01-01

    A frontoparietal network of brain regions is often implicated in both auditory and visual information processing. Although it is possible that the same set of multimodal regions subserves both modalities, there is increasing evidence that there is a differentiation of sensory function within frontoparietal cortex. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in humans was used to investigate whether different frontoparietal regions showed intrinsic biases in connectivity with visual or auditory modalities. Structural connectivity was assessed with diffusion tractography and functional connectivity was tested using functional MRI. A dorsal-ventral gradient of function was observed, where connectivity with visual cortex dominates dorsal frontal and parietal connections, while connectivity with auditory cortex dominates ventral frontal and parietal regions. A gradient was also observed along the posterior-anterior axis, although in opposite directions in prefrontal and parietal cortices. The results suggest that the location of neural activity within frontoparietal cortex may be influenced by these intrinsic biases toward visual and auditory processing. Thus, the location of activity in frontoparietal cortex may be influenced as much by stimulus modality as the cognitive demands of a task. It was concluded that stimulus modality was spatially encoded throughout frontal and parietal cortices, and was speculated that such an arrangement allows for top-down modulation of modality-specific information to occur within higher-order cortex. This could provide a potentially faster and more efficient pathway by which top-down selection between sensory modalities could occur, by constraining modulations to within frontal and parietal regions, rather than long-range connections to sensory cortices. Hum Brain Mapp 38:255-270, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 The Authors Human Brain Mapping Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  14. Brain connectivity in pathological and pharmacological coma

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    Quentin Noirhomme

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Recent studies in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC tend to support the view that awareness is not related to activity in a single brain region but to thalamo-cortical connectivity in the frontoparietal network. Functional neuroimaging studies have shown preserved albeit disconnected low level cortical activation in response to external stimulation in patients in a vegetative state or unresponsive wakefulness syndrome. While activation of these primary sensory cortices does not necessarily reflect conscious awareness, activation in higher order associative cortices in minimally conscious state patients seems to herald some residual perceptual awareness. PET studies have identified a metabolic dysfunction in a widespread fronto-parietal global neuronal workspace in DOC patients including the midline default mode network, ‘intrinsic’ system, and the lateral frontoparietal cortices or ‘extrinsic system’. Recent studies have investigated the relation of awareness to the functional connectivity within intrinsic and extrinsic networks, and with the thalami in both pathological and pharmacological coma. In brain damaged patients, connectivity in all default network areas was found to be non-linearly correlated with the degree of clinical consciousness impairment, ranging from healthy controls and locked-in syndrome to minimally conscious, vegetative, coma and brain dead patients. Anesthesia-induced loss of consciousness was also shown to correlate with a global decrease in cortico-cortical and thalamo-cortical connectivity in both intrinsic and extrinsic networks, but not in auditory or visual networks. In anesthesia, unconsciousness was also associated with a loss of cross-modal interactions between networks. These results suggest that conscious awareness critically depends on the functional integrity of thalamo-cortical and cortico-cortical frontoparietal connectivity within and between intrinsic and extrinsic brain networks.

  15. Altered intrinsic connectivity of the auditory cortex in congenital amusia.

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    Leveque, Yohana; Fauvel, Baptiste; Groussard, Mathilde; Caclin, Anne; Albouy, Philippe; Platel, Hervé; Tillmann, Barbara

    2016-07-01

    Congenital amusia, a neurodevelopmental disorder of music perception and production, has been associated with abnormal anatomical and functional connectivity in a right frontotemporal pathway. To investigate whether spontaneous connectivity in brain networks involving the auditory cortex is altered in the amusic brain, we ran a seed-based connectivity analysis, contrasting at-rest functional MRI data of amusic and matched control participants. Our results reveal reduced frontotemporal connectivity in amusia during resting state, as well as an overconnectivity between the auditory cortex and the default mode network (DMN). The findings suggest that the auditory cortex is intrinsically more engaged toward internal processes and less available to external stimuli in amusics compared with controls. Beyond amusia, our findings provide new evidence for the link between cognitive deficits in pathology and abnormalities in the connectivity between sensory areas and the DMN at rest. Copyright © 2016 the American Physiological Society.

  16. Tinnitus alters resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) in human auditory and non-auditory brain regions as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS).

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    San Juan, Juan; Hu, Xiao-Su; Issa, Mohamad; Bisconti, Silvia; Kovelman, Ioulia; Kileny, Paul; Basura, Gregory

    2017-01-01

    Tinnitus, or phantom sound perception, leads to increased spontaneous neural firing rates and enhanced synchrony in central auditory circuits in animal models. These putative physiologic correlates of tinnitus to date have not been well translated in the brain of the human tinnitus sufferer. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) we recently showed that tinnitus in humans leads to maintained hemodynamic activity in auditory and adjacent, non-auditory cortices. Here we used fNIRS technology to investigate changes in resting state functional connectivity between human auditory and non-auditory brain regions in normal-hearing, bilateral subjective tinnitus and controls before and after auditory stimulation. Hemodynamic activity was monitored over the region of interest (primary auditory cortex) and non-region of interest (adjacent non-auditory cortices) and functional brain connectivity was measured during a 60-second baseline/period of silence before and after a passive auditory challenge consisting of alternating pure tones (750 and 8000Hz), broadband noise and silence. Functional connectivity was measured between all channel-pairs. Prior to stimulation, connectivity of the region of interest to the temporal and fronto-temporal region was decreased in tinnitus participants compared to controls. Overall, connectivity in tinnitus was differentially altered as compared to controls following sound stimulation. Enhanced connectivity was seen in both auditory and non-auditory regions in the tinnitus brain, while controls showed a decrease in connectivity following sound stimulation. In tinnitus, the strength of connectivity was increased between auditory cortex and fronto-temporal, fronto-parietal, temporal, occipito-temporal and occipital cortices. Together these data suggest that central auditory and non-auditory brain regions are modified in tinnitus and that resting functional connectivity measured by fNIRS technology may contribute to conscious phantom

  17. Tinnitus alters resting state functional connectivity (RSFC in human auditory and non-auditory brain regions as measured by functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS.

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    Juan San Juan

    Full Text Available Tinnitus, or phantom sound perception, leads to increased spontaneous neural firing rates and enhanced synchrony in central auditory circuits in animal models. These putative physiologic correlates of tinnitus to date have not been well translated in the brain of the human tinnitus sufferer. Using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS we recently showed that tinnitus in humans leads to maintained hemodynamic activity in auditory and adjacent, non-auditory cortices. Here we used fNIRS technology to investigate changes in resting state functional connectivity between human auditory and non-auditory brain regions in normal-hearing, bilateral subjective tinnitus and controls before and after auditory stimulation. Hemodynamic activity was monitored over the region of interest (primary auditory cortex and non-region of interest (adjacent non-auditory cortices and functional brain connectivity was measured during a 60-second baseline/period of silence before and after a passive auditory challenge consisting of alternating pure tones (750 and 8000Hz, broadband noise and silence. Functional connectivity was measured between all channel-pairs. Prior to stimulation, connectivity of the region of interest to the temporal and fronto-temporal region was decreased in tinnitus participants compared to controls. Overall, connectivity in tinnitus was differentially altered as compared to controls following sound stimulation. Enhanced connectivity was seen in both auditory and non-auditory regions in the tinnitus brain, while controls showed a decrease in connectivity following sound stimulation. In tinnitus, the strength of connectivity was increased between auditory cortex and fronto-temporal, fronto-parietal, temporal, occipito-temporal and occipital cortices. Together these data suggest that central auditory and non-auditory brain regions are modified in tinnitus and that resting functional connectivity measured by fNIRS technology may contribute to

  18. Grey matter connectivity within and between auditory, language and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents.

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    Li, Wenjing; Li, Jianhong; Wang, Zhenchang; Li, Yong; Liu, Zhaohui; Yan, Fei; Xian, Junfang; He, Huiguang

    2015-01-01

    Previous studies have shown brain reorganizations after early deprivation of auditory sensory. However, changes of grey matter connectivity have not been investigated in prelingually deaf adolescents yet. In the present study, we aimed to investigate changes of grey matter connectivity within and between auditory, language and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents. We recruited 16 prelingually deaf adolescents and 16 age-and gender-matched normal controls, and extracted the grey matter volume as the structural characteristic from 14 regions of interest involved in auditory, language or visual processing to investigate the changes of grey matter connectivity within and between auditory, language and visual systems. Sparse inverse covariance estimation (SICE) was utilized to construct grey matter connectivity between these brain regions. The results show that prelingually deaf adolescents present weaker grey matter connectivity within auditory and visual systems, and connectivity between language and visual systems declined. Notably, significantly increased brain connectivity was found between auditory and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents. Our results indicate "cross-modal" plasticity after deprivation of the auditory input in prelingually deaf adolescents, especially between auditory and visual systems. Besides, auditory deprivation and visual deficits might affect the connectivity pattern within language and visual systems in prelingually deaf adolescents.

  19. Cell Type–Specific Three-Dimensional Structure of Thalamocortical Circuits in a Column of Rat Vibrissal Cortex

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    de Kock, Christiaan P. J.; Bruno, Randy M.; Ramirez, Alejandro; Meyer, Hanno S.; Dercksen, Vincent J.; Helmstaedter, Moritz; Sakmann, Bert

    2012-01-01

    Soma location, dendrite morphology, and synaptic innervation may represent key determinants of functional responses of individual neurons, such as sensory-evoked spiking. Here, we reconstruct the 3D circuits formed by thalamocortical afferents from the lemniscal pathway and excitatory neurons of an anatomically defined cortical column in rat vibrissal cortex. We objectively classify 9 cortical cell types and estimate the number and distribution of their somata, dendrites, and thalamocortical synapses. Somata and dendrites of most cell types intermingle, while thalamocortical connectivity depends strongly upon the cell type and the 3D soma location of the postsynaptic neuron. Correlating dendrite morphology and thalamocortical connectivity to functional responses revealed that the lemniscal afferents can account for some of the cell type- and location-specific subthreshold and spiking responses after passive whisker touch (e.g., in layer 4, but not for other cell types, e.g., in layer 5). Our data provides a quantitative 3D prediction of the cell type–specific lemniscal synaptic wiring diagram and elucidates structure–function relationships of this physiologically relevant pathway at single-cell resolution. PMID:22089425

  20. Evidence of functional connectivity between auditory cortical areas revealed by amplitude modulation sound processing.

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    Guéguin, Marie; Le Bouquin-Jeannès, Régine; Faucon, Gérard; Chauvel, Patrick; Liégeois-Chauvel, Catherine

    2007-02-01

    The human auditory cortex includes several interconnected areas. A better understanding of the mechanisms involved in auditory cortical functions requires a detailed knowledge of neuronal connectivity between functional cortical regions. In human, it is difficult to track in vivo neuronal connectivity. We investigated the interarea connection in vivo in the auditory cortex using a method of directed coherence (DCOH) applied to depth auditory evoked potentials (AEPs). This paper presents simultaneous AEPs recordings from insular gyrus (IG), primary and secondary cortices (Heschl's gyrus and planum temporale), and associative areas (Brodmann area [BA] 22) with multilead intracerebral electrodes in response to sinusoidal modulated white noises in 4 epileptic patients who underwent invasive monitoring with depth electrodes for epilepsy surgery. DCOH allowed estimation of the causality between 2 signals recorded from different cortical sites. The results showed 1) a predominant auditory stream within the primary auditory cortex from the most medial region to the most lateral one whatever the modulation frequency, 2) unidirectional functional connection from the primary to secondary auditory cortex, 3) a major auditory propagation from the posterior areas to the anterior ones, particularly at 8, 16, and 32 Hz, and 4) a particular role of Heschl's sulcus dispatching information to the different auditory areas. These findings suggest that cortical processing of auditory information is performed in serial and parallel streams. Our data showed that the auditory propagation could not be associated to a unidirectional traveling wave but to a constant interaction between these areas that could reflect the large adaptive and plastic capacities of auditory cortex. The role of the IG is discussed.

  1. Patchwork-Type Spontaneous Activity in Neonatal Barrel Cortex Layer 4 Transmitted via Thalamocortical Projections

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    Hidenobu Mizuno

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Summary: Establishment of precise neuronal connectivity in the neocortex relies on activity-dependent circuit reorganization during postnatal development; however, the nature of cortical activity during this period remains largely unknown. Using two-photon calcium imaging of the barrel cortex in vivo during the first postnatal week, we reveal that layer 4 (L4 neurons within the same barrel fire synchronously in the absence of peripheral stimulation, creating a “patchwork” pattern of spontaneous activity corresponding to the barrel map. By generating transgenic mice expressing GCaMP6s in thalamocortical axons, we show that thalamocortical axons also demonstrate the spontaneous patchwork activity pattern. Patchwork activity is diminished by peripheral anesthesia but is mostly independent of self-generated whisker movements. The patchwork activity pattern largely disappeared during postnatal week 2, as even L4 neurons within the same barrel tended to fire asynchronously. This spontaneous L4 activity pattern has features suitable for thalamocortical (TC circuit refinement in the neonatal barrel cortex. : By two-photon calcium imaging of layer 4 neurons and thalamocortical axon terminals in neonatal mouse barrel cortex, Mizuno et al. find a patchwork-like spontaneous activity pattern corresponding to the barrel map, which may be important for thalamocortical circuit maturation. Keywords: activity-dependent development, spontaneous activity, synchronized activity, barrel cortex, thalamocortical axons, neonates, in vivo calcium imaging, awake, single-cell labeling, whisker monitoring

  2. Amplitude-modulated stimuli reveal auditory-visual interactions in brain activity and brain connectivity

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    Mark eLaing

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available The temporal congruence between auditory and visual signals coming from the same source can be a powerful means by which the brain integrates information from different senses. To investigate how the brain uses temporal information to integrate auditory and visual information from continuous yet unfamiliar stimuli, we use amplitude-modulated tones and size-modulated shapes with which we could manipulate the temporal congruence between the sensory signals. These signals were independently modulated at a slow or a fast rate. Participants were presented with auditory-only, visual-only or auditory-visual (AV trials in the scanner. On AV trials, the auditory and visual signal could have the same (AV congruent or different modulation rates (AV incongruent. Using psychophysiological interaction analyses, we found that auditory regions showed increased functional connectivity predominantly with frontal regions for AV incongruent relative to AV congruent stimuli. We further found that superior temporal regions, shown previously to integrate auditory and visual signals, showed increased connectivity with frontal and parietal regions for the same contrast. Our findings provide evidence that both activity in a network of brain regions and their connectivity are important for auditory-visual integration, and help to bridge the gap between transient and familiar AV stimuli used in previous studies.

  3. Altered thalamocortical rhythmicity and connectivity in mice lacking CaV3.1 T-type Ca2+ channels in unconsciousness

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Soonwook; Yu, Eunah; Lee, Seongwon; Llinás, Rodolfo R.

    2015-01-01

    In unconscious status (e.g., deep sleep and anesthetic unconsciousness) where cognitive functions are not generated there is still a significant level of brain activity present. Indeed, the electrophysiology of the unconscious brain is characterized by well-defined thalamocortical rhythmicity. Here we address the ionic basis for such thalamocortical rhythms during unconsciousness. In particular, we address the role of CaV3.1 T-type Ca2+ channels, which are richly expressed in thalamic neurons. Toward this aim, we examined the electrophysiological and behavioral phenotypes of mice lacking CaV3.1 channels (CaV3.1 knockout) during unconsciousness induced by ketamine or ethanol administration. Our findings indicate that CaV3.1 KO mice displayed attenuated low-frequency oscillations in thalamocortical loops, especially in the 1- to 4-Hz delta band, compared with control mice (CaV3.1 WT). Intriguingly, we also found that CaV3.1 KO mice exhibited augmented high-frequency oscillations during unconsciousness. In a behavioral measure of unconsciousness dynamics, CaV3.1 KO mice took longer to fall into the unconscious state than controls. In addition, such unconscious events had a shorter duration than those of control mice. The thalamocortical interaction level between mediodorsal thalamus and frontal cortex in CaV3.1 KO mice was significantly lower, especially for delta band oscillations, compared with that of CaV3.1 WT mice, during unconsciousness. These results suggest that the CaV3.1 channel is required for the generation of a given set of thalamocortical rhythms during unconsciousness. Further, that thalamocortical resonant neuronal activity supported by this channel is important for the control of vigilance states. PMID:26056284

  4. Compensating Level-Dependent Frequency Representation in Auditory Cortex by Synaptic Integration of Corticocortical Input.

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    Max F K Happel

    Full Text Available Robust perception of auditory objects over a large range of sound intensities is a fundamental feature of the auditory system. However, firing characteristics of single neurons across the entire auditory system, like the frequency tuning, can change significantly with stimulus intensity. Physiological correlates of level-constancy of auditory representations hence should be manifested on the level of larger neuronal assemblies or population patterns. In this study we have investigated how information of frequency and sound level is integrated on the circuit-level in the primary auditory cortex (AI of the Mongolian gerbil. We used a combination of pharmacological silencing of corticocortically relayed activity and laminar current source density (CSD analysis. Our data demonstrate that with increasing stimulus intensities progressively lower frequencies lead to the maximal impulse response within cortical input layers at a given cortical site inherited from thalamocortical synaptic inputs. We further identified a temporally precise intercolumnar synaptic convergence of early thalamocortical and horizontal corticocortical inputs. Later tone-evoked activity in upper layers showed a preservation of broad tonotopic tuning across sound levels without shifts towards lower frequencies. Synaptic integration within corticocortical circuits may hence contribute to a level-robust representation of auditory information on a neuronal population level in the auditory cortex.

  5. Amplitude-modulated stimuli reveal auditory-visual interactions in brain activity and brain connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laing, Mark; Rees, Adrian; Vuong, Quoc C

    2015-01-01

    The temporal congruence between auditory and visual signals coming from the same source can be a powerful means by which the brain integrates information from different senses. To investigate how the brain uses temporal information to integrate auditory and visual information from continuous yet unfamiliar stimuli, we used amplitude-modulated tones and size-modulated shapes with which we could manipulate the temporal congruence between the sensory signals. These signals were independently modulated at a slow or a fast rate. Participants were presented with auditory-only, visual-only, or auditory-visual (AV) trials in the fMRI scanner. On AV trials, the auditory and visual signal could have the same (AV congruent) or different modulation rates (AV incongruent). Using psychophysiological interaction analyses, we found that auditory regions showed increased functional connectivity predominantly with frontal regions for AV incongruent relative to AV congruent stimuli. We further found that superior temporal regions, shown previously to integrate auditory and visual signals, showed increased connectivity with frontal and parietal regions for the same contrast. Our findings provide evidence that both activity in a network of brain regions and their connectivity are important for AV integration, and help to bridge the gap between transient and familiar AV stimuli used in previous studies.

  6. Spindle-like thalamocortical synchronization in a rat brain slice preparation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tancredi, V; Biagini, G; D'Antuono, M; Louvel, J; Pumain, R; Avoli, M

    2000-08-01

    We obtained rat brain slices (550-650 microm) that contained part of the frontoparietal cortex along with a portion of the thalamic ventrobasal complex (VB) and of the reticular nucleus (RTN). Maintained reciprocal thalamocortical connectivity was demonstrated by VB stimulation, which elicited orthodromic and antidromic responses in the cortex, along with re-entry of thalamocortical firing originating in VB neurons excited by cortical output activity. In addition, orthodromic responses were recorded in VB and RTN following stimuli delivered in the cortex. Spontaneous and stimulus-induced coherent rhythmic oscillations (duration = 0.4-3.5 s; frequency = 9-16 Hz) occurred in cortex, VB, and RTN during application of medium containing low concentrations of the K(+) channel blocker 4-aminopyridine (0.5-1 microM). This activity, which resembled electroencephalograph (EEG) spindles recorded in vivo, disappeared in both cortex and thalamus during application of the excitatory amino acid receptor antagonist kynurenic acid in VB (n = 6). By contrast, cortical application of kynurenic acid (n = 4) abolished spindle-like oscillations at this site, but not those recorded in VB, where their frequency was higher than under control conditions. Our findings demonstrate the preservation of reciprocally interconnected cortical and thalamic neuron networks that generate thalamocortical spindle-like oscillations in an in vitro rat brain slice. As shown in intact animals, these oscillations originate in the thalamus where they are presumably caused by interactions between RTN and VB neurons. We propose that this preparation may help to analyze thalamocortical synchronization and to understand the physiopathogenesis of absence attacks.

  7. Dynamic Correlations between Intrinsic Connectivity and Extrinsic Connectivity of the Auditory Cortex in Humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cui, Zhuang; Wang, Qian; Gao, Yayue; Wang, Jing; Wang, Mengyang; Teng, Pengfei; Guan, Yuguang; Zhou, Jian; Li, Tianfu; Luan, Guoming; Li, Liang

    2017-01-01

    The arrival of sound signals in the auditory cortex (AC) triggers both local and inter-regional signal propagations over time up to hundreds of milliseconds and builds up both intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC) and extrinsic functional connectivity (eFC) of the AC. However, interactions between iFC and eFC are largely unknown. Using intracranial stereo-electroencephalographic recordings in people with drug-refractory epilepsy, this study mainly investigated the temporal dynamic of the relationships between iFC and eFC of the AC. The results showed that a Gaussian wideband-noise burst markedly elicited potentials in both the AC and numerous higher-order cortical regions outside the AC (non-auditory cortices). Granger causality analyses revealed that in the earlier time window, iFC of the AC was positively correlated with both eFC from the AC to the inferior temporal gyrus and that to the inferior parietal lobule. While in later periods, the iFC of the AC was positively correlated with eFC from the precentral gyrus to the AC and that from the insula to the AC. In conclusion, dual-directional interactions occur between iFC and eFC of the AC at different time windows following the sound stimulation and may form the foundation underlying various central auditory processes, including auditory sensory memory, object formation, integrations between sensory, perceptional, attentional, motor, emotional, and executive processes.

  8. Compensating for Thalamocortical Synaptic Loss in Alzheimer’s Disease

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kamal eAbuhassan

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The study presents a thalamocortical network model which oscillates within the alpha frequency band (8-13 Hz as recorded in the wakeful relaxed state with closed eyes to study the neural causes of abnormal oscillatory activity in Alzheimer’s disease (AD. Incorporated within the model are various types of cortical excitatory and inhibitory neurons, recurrently connected to thalamic and reticular thalamic regions with the ratios and distances derived from the mammalian thalamocortical system. The model is utilized to study the impacts of four types of connectivity loss on the model’s spectral dynamics. The study focuses on investigating degeneration of corticocortical, thalamocortical, corticothalamic and corticoreticular couplings, with an emphasis on the influence of each modelled case on the spectral output of the model. Synaptic compensation has been included in each model to examine the interplay between synaptic deletion and compensation mechanisms, and the oscillatory activity of the network. The results of power spectra and event related desynchronisation/synchronisation (ERD/S analyses show that the dynamics of the thalamic and cortical oscillations are significantly influenced by corticocortical synaptic loss. Interestingly, the patterns of changes in thalamic spectral activity are correlated with those in the cortical model. Similarly, the thalamic oscillatory activity is diminished after partial corticothalamic denervation. The results suggest that thalamic atrophy is a secondary pathology to cortical shrinkage in Alzheimer’s disease. In addition, this study finds that the inhibition from neurons in the thalamic reticular nucleus (RTN to thalamic relay (TCR neurons plays a key role in regulating thalamic oscillations; disinhibition disrupts thalamic oscillatory activity even though TCR neurons are more depolarized after being released from RTN inhibition. This study provides information that can be explored experimentally to

  9. Developmental synchrony of thalamocortical circuits in the neonatal brain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poh, Joann S; Li, Yue; Ratnarajah, Nagulan; Fortier, Marielle V; Chong, Yap-Seng; Kwek, Kenneth; Saw, Seang-Mei; Gluckman, Peter D; Meaney, Michael J; Qiu, Anqi

    2015-08-01

    The thalamus is a deep gray matter structure and consists of axonal fibers projecting to the entire cortex, which provide the anatomical support for its sensorimotor and higher-level cognitive functions. There is limited in vivo evidence on the normal thalamocortical development, especially in early life. In this study, we aimed to investigate the developmental patterns of the cerebral cortex, the thalamic substructures, and their connectivity with the cortex in the first few weeks of the postnatal brain. We hypothesized that there is developmental synchrony of the thalamus, its cortical projections, and corresponding target cortical structures. We employed diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and divided the thalamus into five substructures respectively connecting to the frontal, precentral, postcentral, temporal, and parietal and occipital cortex. T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used to measure cortical thickness. We found age-related increases in cortical thickness of bilateral frontal cortex and left temporal cortex in the early postnatal brain. We also found that the development of the thalamic substructures was synchronized with that of their respective thalamocortical connectivity in the first few weeks of the postnatal life. In particular, the right thalamo-frontal substructure had the fastest growth in the early postnatal brain. Our study suggests that the distinct growth patterns of the thalamic substructures are in synchrony with those of the cortex in early life, which may be critical for the development of the cortical and subcortical functional specialization. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Auditory thalamic circuits and GABAA receptor function: Putative mechanisms in tinnitus pathology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caspary, Donald M; Llano, Daniel A

    2017-06-01

    Tinnitus is defined as a phantom sound (ringing in the ears), and can significantly reduce the quality of life for those who suffer its effects. Ten to fifteen percent of the general adult population report symptoms of tinnitus with 1-2% reporting that tinnitus negatively impacts their quality of life. Noise exposure is the most common cause of tinnitus and the military environment presents many challenging high-noise situations. Military noise levels can be so intense that standard hearing protection is not adequate. Recent studies suggest a role for inhibitory neurotransmitter dysfunction in response to noise-induced peripheral deafferentation as a key element in the pathology of tinnitus. The auditory thalamus, or medial geniculate body (MGB), is an obligate auditory brain center in a unique position to gate the percept of sound as it projects to auditory cortex and to limbic structures. Both areas are thought to be involved in those individuals most impacted by tinnitus. For MGB, opposing hypotheses have posited either a tinnitus-related pathologic decrease or pathologic increase in GABAergic inhibition. In sensory thalamus, GABA mediates fast synaptic inhibition via synaptic GABA A receptors (GABA A Rs) as well as a persistent tonic inhibition via high-affinity extrasynaptic GABA A Rs and slow synaptic inhibition via GABA B Rs. Down-regulation of inhibitory neurotransmission, related to partial peripheral deafferentation, is consistently presented as partially underpinning neuronal hyperactivity seen in animal models of tinnitus. This maladaptive plasticity/Gain Control Theory of tinnitus pathology (see Auerbach et al., 2014; Richardson et al., 2012) is characterized by reduced inhibition associated with increased spontaneous and abnormal neuronal activity, including bursting and increased synchrony throughout much of the central auditory pathway. A competing hypothesis suggests that maladaptive oscillations between the MGB and auditory cortex

  11. Dynamic Correlations between Intrinsic Connectivity and Extrinsic Connectivity of the Auditory Cortex in Humans

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhuang Cui

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The arrival of sound signals in the auditory cortex (AC triggers both local and inter-regional signal propagations over time up to hundreds of milliseconds and builds up both intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC and extrinsic functional connectivity (eFC of the AC. However, interactions between iFC and eFC are largely unknown. Using intracranial stereo-electroencephalographic recordings in people with drug-refractory epilepsy, this study mainly investigated the temporal dynamic of the relationships between iFC and eFC of the AC. The results showed that a Gaussian wideband-noise burst markedly elicited potentials in both the AC and numerous higher-order cortical regions outside the AC (non-auditory cortices. Granger causality analyses revealed that in the earlier time window, iFC of the AC was positively correlated with both eFC from the AC to the inferior temporal gyrus and that to the inferior parietal lobule. While in later periods, the iFC of the AC was positively correlated with eFC from the precentral gyrus to the AC and that from the insula to the AC. In conclusion, dual-directional interactions occur between iFC and eFC of the AC at different time windows following the sound stimulation and may form the foundation underlying various central auditory processes, including auditory sensory memory, object formation, integrations between sensory, perceptional, attentional, motor, emotional, and executive processes.

  12. Using auditory steady state responses to outline the functional connectivity in the tinnitus brain.

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    Winfried Schlee

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Tinnitus is an auditory phantom perception that is most likely generated in the central nervous system. Most of the tinnitus research has concentrated on the auditory system. However, it was suggested recently that also non-auditory structures are involved in a global network that encodes subjective tinnitus. We tested this assumption using auditory steady state responses to entrain the tinnitus network and investigated long-range functional connectivity across various non-auditory brain regions. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Using whole-head magnetoencephalography we investigated cortical connectivity by means of phase synchronization in tinnitus subjects and healthy controls. We found evidence for a deviating pattern of long-range functional connectivity in tinnitus that was strongly correlated with individual ratings of the tinnitus percept. Phase couplings between the anterior cingulum and the right frontal lobe and phase couplings between the anterior cingulum and the right parietal lobe showed significant condition x group interactions and were correlated with the individual tinnitus distress ratings only in the tinnitus condition and not in the control conditions. CONCLUSIONS: To the best of our knowledge this is the first study that demonstrates existence of a global tinnitus network of long-range cortical connections outside the central auditory system. This result extends the current knowledge of how tinnitus is generated in the brain. We propose that this global extend of the tinnitus network is crucial for the continuos perception of the tinnitus tone and a therapeutical intervention that is able to change this network should result in relief of tinnitus.

  13. Acquisition, Analyses and Interpretation of fMRI Data: A Study on the Effective Connectivity in Human Primary Auditory Cortices

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ahmad Nazlim Yusoff; Mazlyfarina Mohamad; Khairiah Abdul Hamid

    2011-01-01

    A study on the effective connectivity characteristics in auditory cortices was conducted on five healthy Malay male subjects with the age of 20 to 40 years old using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), statistical parametric mapping (SPM5) and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). A silent imaging paradigm was used to reduce the scanner sound artefacts on functional images. The subjects were instructed to pay attention to the white noise stimulus binaurally given at intensity level of 70 dB higher than the hearing level for normal people. Functional specialisation was studied using Matlab-based SPM5 software by means of fixed effects (FFX), random effects (RFX) and conjunction analyses. Individual analyses on all subjects indicate asymmetrical bilateral activation between the left and right auditory cortices in Brodmann areas (BA)22, 41 and 42 involving the primary and secondary auditory cortices. The three auditory areas in the right and left auditory cortices are selected for the determination of the effective connectivity by constructing 9 network models. The effective connectivity is determined on four out of five subjects with the exception of one subject who has the BA22 coordinates located too far from BA22 coordinates obtained from group analysis. DCM results showed the existence of effective connectivity between the three selected auditory areas in both auditory cortices. In the right auditory cortex, BA42 is identified as input centre with unidirectional parallel effective connectivities of BA42→BA41and BA42→BA22. However, for the left auditory cortex, the input is BA41 with unidirectional parallel effective connectivities of BA41→BA42 and BA41→BA22. The connectivity between the activated auditory areas suggests the existence of signal pathway in the auditory cortices even when the subject is listening to noise. (author)

  14. Aberrant connectivity of areas for decoding degraded speech in patients with auditory verbal hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clos, Mareike; Diederen, Kelly M J; Meijering, Anne Lotte; Sommer, Iris E; Eickhoff, Simon B

    2014-03-01

    Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a hallmark of psychotic experience. Various mechanisms including misattribution of inner speech and imbalance between bottom-up and top-down factors in auditory perception potentially due to aberrant connectivity between frontal and temporo-parietal areas have been suggested to underlie AVH. Experimental evidence for disturbed connectivity of networks sustaining auditory-verbal processing is, however, sparse. We compared functional resting-state connectivity in 49 psychotic patients with frequent AVH and 49 matched controls. The analysis was seeded from the left middle temporal gyrus (MTG), thalamus, angular gyrus (AG) and inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) as these regions are implicated in extracting meaning from impoverished speech-like sounds. Aberrant connectivity was found for all seeds. Decreased connectivity was observed between the left MTG and its right homotope, between the left AG and the surrounding inferior parietal cortex (IPC) and the left inferior temporal gyrus, between the left thalamus and the right cerebellum, as well as between the left IFG and left IPC, and dorsolateral and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC/VLPFC). Increased connectivity was observed between the left IFG and the supplementary motor area (SMA) and the left insula and between the left thalamus and the left fusiform gyrus/hippocampus. The predisposition to experience AVH might result from decoupling between the speech production system (IFG, insula and SMA) and the self-monitoring system (DLPFC, VLPFC, IPC) leading to misattribution of inner speech. Furthermore, decreased connectivity between nodes involved in speech processing (AG, MTG) and other regions implicated in auditory processing might reflect aberrant top-down influences in AVH.

  15. Intrinsic Connections of the Core Auditory Cortical Regions and Rostral Supratemporal Plane in the Macaque Monkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Brian H; Leccese, Paul A; Saleem, Kadharbatcha S; Kikuchi, Yukiko; Mullarkey, Matthew P; Fukushima, Makoto; Mishkin, Mortimer; Saunders, Richard C

    2017-01-01

    In the ventral stream of the primate auditory cortex, cortico-cortical projections emanate from the primary auditory cortex (AI) along 2 principal axes: one mediolateral, the other caudorostral. Connections in the mediolateral direction from core, to belt, to parabelt, have been well described, but less is known about the flow of information along the supratemporal plane (STP) in the caudorostral dimension. Neuroanatomical tracers were injected throughout the caudorostral extent of the auditory core and rostral STP by direct visualization of the cortical surface. Auditory cortical areas were distinguished by SMI-32 immunostaining for neurofilament, in addition to established cytoarchitectonic criteria. The results describe a pathway comprising step-wise projections from AI through the rostral and rostrotemporal fields of the core (R and RT), continuing to the recently identified rostrotemporal polar field (RTp) and the dorsal temporal pole. Each area was strongly and reciprocally connected with the areas immediately caudal and rostral to it, though deviations from strictly serial connectivity were observed. In RTp, inputs converged from core, belt, parabelt, and the auditory thalamus, as well as higher order cortical regions. The results support a rostrally directed flow of auditory information with complex and recurrent connections, similar to the ventral stream of macaque visual cortex. Published by Oxford University Press 2015. This work is written by (a) US Government employee(s) and is in the public domain in the US.

  16. Abnormal synchrony and effective connectivity in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations

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    de la Iglesia-Vaya, Maria; Escartí, Maria José; Molina-Mateo, Jose; Martí-Bonmatí, Luis; Gadea, Marien; Castellanos, Francisco Xavier; Aguilar García-Iturrospe, Eduardo J.; Robles, Montserrat; Biswal, Bharat B.; Sanjuan, Julio

    2014-01-01

    Auditory hallucinations (AH) are the most frequent positive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Hallucinations have been related to emotional processing disturbances, altered functional connectivity and effective connectivity deficits. Previously, we observed that, compared to healthy controls, the limbic network responses of patients with auditory hallucinations differed when the subjects were listening to emotionally charged words. We aimed to compare the synchrony patterns and effective connectivity of task-related networks between schizophrenia patients with and without AH and healthy controls. Schizophrenia patients with AH (n = 27) and without AH (n = 14) were compared with healthy participants (n = 31). We examined functional connectivity by analyzing correlations and cross-correlations among previously detected independent component analysis time courses. Granger causality was used to infer the information flow direction in the brain regions. The results demonstrate that the patterns of cortico-cortical functional synchrony differentiated the patients with AH from the patients without AH and from the healthy participants. Additionally, Granger-causal relationships between the networks clearly differentiated the groups. In the patients with AH, the principal causal source was an occipital–cerebellar component, versus a temporal component in the patients without AH and the healthy controls. These data indicate that an anomalous process of neural connectivity exists when patients with AH process emotional auditory stimuli. Additionally, a central role is suggested for the cerebellum in processing emotional stimuli in patients with persistent AH. PMID:25379429

  17. Relation between functional connectivity and rhythm discrimination in children who do and do not stutter

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    Soo-Eun Chang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Our ability to perceive and produce rhythmic patterns in the environment supports fundamental human capacities ranging from music and language processing to the coordination of action. This article considers whether spontaneous correlated brain activity within a basal ganglia-thalamocortical (rhythm network is associated with individual differences in auditory rhythm discrimination. Moreover, do children who stutter with demonstrated deficits in rhythm perception have weaker links between rhythm network functional connectivity and rhythm discrimination? All children in the study underwent a resting-state fMRI session, from which functional connectivity measures within the rhythm network were extracted from spontaneous brain activity. In a separate session, the same children completed an auditory rhythm-discrimination task, where behavioral performance was assessed using signal detection analysis. We hypothesized that in typically developing children, rhythm network functional connectivity would be associated with behavioral performance on the rhythm discrimination task, but that this relationship would be attenuated in children who stutter. Results supported our hypotheses, lending strong support for the view that (1 children who stutter have weaker rhythm network connectivity and (2 the lack of a relation between rhythm network connectivity and rhythm discrimination in children who stutter may be an important contributing factor to the etiology of stuttering.

  18. Functional connectivity between face-movement and speech-intelligibility areas during auditory-only speech perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schall, Sonja; von Kriegstein, Katharina

    2014-01-01

    It has been proposed that internal simulation of the talking face of visually-known speakers facilitates auditory speech recognition. One prediction of this view is that brain areas involved in auditory-only speech comprehension interact with visual face-movement sensitive areas, even under auditory-only listening conditions. Here, we test this hypothesis using connectivity analyses of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. Participants (17 normal participants, 17 developmental prosopagnosics) first learned six speakers via brief voice-face or voice-occupation training (comprehension. Overall, the present findings indicate that learned visual information is integrated into the analysis of auditory-only speech and that this integration results from the interaction of task-relevant face-movement and auditory speech-sensitive areas.

  19. The thalamo-cortical auditory receptive fields: regulation by the states of vigilance, learning and the neuromodulatory systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edeline, Jean-Marc

    2003-12-01

    The goal of this review is twofold. First, it aims to describe the dynamic regulation that constantly shapes the receptive fields (RFs) and maps in the thalamo-cortical sensory systems of undrugged animals. Second, it aims to discuss several important issues that remain unresolved at the intersection between behavioral neurosciences and sensory physiology. A first section presents the RF modulations observed when an undrugged animal spontaneously shifts from waking to slow-wave sleep or to paradoxical sleep (also called REM sleep). A second section shows that, in contrast with the general changes described in the first section, behavioral training can induce selective effects which favor the stimulus that has acquired significance during learning. A third section reviews the effects triggered by two major neuromodulators of the thalamo-cortical system--acetylcholine and noradrenaline--which are traditionally involved both in the switch of vigilance states and in learning experiences. The conclusion argues that because the receptive fields and maps of an awake animal are continuously modulated from minute to minute, learning-induced sensory plasticity can be viewed as a "crystallization" of the receptive fields and maps in one of the multiple possible states. Studying the interplays between neuromodulators can help understanding the neurobiological foundations of this dynamic regulation.

  20. Early Seizures Prematurely Unsilence Auditory Synapses to Disrupt Thalamocortical Critical Period Plasticity

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    Hongyu Sun

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available Heightened neural excitability in infancy and childhood results in increased susceptibility to seizures. Such early-life seizures are associated with language deficits and autism that can result from aberrant development of the auditory cortex. Here, we show that early-life seizures disrupt a critical period (CP for tonotopic map plasticity in primary auditory cortex (A1. We show that this CP is characterized by a prevalence of “silent,” NMDA-receptor (NMDAR-only, glutamate receptor synapses in auditory cortex that become “unsilenced” due to activity-dependent AMPA receptor (AMPAR insertion. Induction of seizures prior to this CP occludes tonotopic map plasticity by prematurely unsilencing NMDAR-only synapses. Further, brief treatment with the AMPAR antagonist NBQX following seizures, prior to the CP, prevents synapse unsilencing and permits subsequent A1 plasticity. These findings reveal that early-life seizures modify CP regulators and suggest that therapeutic targets for early post-seizure treatment can rescue CP plasticity.

  1. Thalamo-Cortical Disruption Contributes to Short-Term Memory Deficits in Patients with Medial Temporal Lobe Damage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voets, Natalie L; Menke, Ricarda A L; Jbabdi, Saad; Husain, Masud; Stacey, Richard; Carpenter, Katherine; Adcock, Jane E

    2015-11-01

    Short-term (STM) and long-term memory (LTM) have largely been considered as separate brain systems reflecting fronto-parietal and medial temporal lobe (MTL) functions, respectively. This functional dichotomy has been called into question by evidence of deficits on aspects of working memory in patients with MTL damage, suggesting a potentially direct hippocampal contribution to STM. As the hippocampus has direct anatomical connections with the thalamus, we tested the hypothesis that damage to thalamic nuclei regulating cortico-cortical interactions may contribute to STM deficits in patients with hippocampal dysfunction. We used diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging-based tractography to identify anatomical subdivisions in patients with MTL epilepsy. From these, we measured resting-state functional connectivity with detailed cortical divisions of the frontal, temporal, and parietal lobes. Whereas thalamo-temporal functional connectivity reflected LTM performance, thalamo-prefrontal functional connectivity specifically predicted STM performance. Notably, patients with hippocampal volume loss showed thalamic volume loss, most prominent in the pulvinar region, not detected in patients with normal hippocampal volumes. Aberrant thalamo-cortical connectivity in the epileptic hemisphere was mirrored in a loss of behavioral association with STM performance specifically in patients with hippocampal atrophy. These findings identify thalamo-cortical disruption as a potential mechanism contributing to STM deficits in the context of MTL damage. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press.

  2. Abnormal synchrony and effective connectivity in patients with schizophrenia and auditory hallucinations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria de la Iglesia-Vaya

    2014-01-01

    These data indicate that an anomalous process of neural connectivity exists when patients with AH process emotional auditory stimuli. Additionally, a central role is suggested for the cerebellum in processing emotional stimuli in patients with persistent AH.

  3. Impairments of thalamic resting-state functional connectivity in patients with chronic tinnitus

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    Zhang, Jian [Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); Chen, Yu-Chen [Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); Center for Hearing and Deafness, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY (United States); Feng, Xu [Department of Otolaryngology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); Yang, Ming; Liu, Bin; Qian, Cheng [Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); Wang, Jian [Department of Physiology, Southeast University, Nanjing (China); School of Human Communication Disorders, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS (Canada); Salvi, Richard [Center for Hearing and Deafness, University at Buffalo, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY (United States); Teng, Gao-Jun, E-mail: gjteng@vip.sina.com [Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Molecular and Functional Imaging, Department of Radiology, Zhongda Hospital, Medical School, Southeast University, Nanjing (China)

    2015-07-15

    Highlights: • Tinnitus patients have aberrant thalamic connectivity to many brain regions. • Decreased thalamic connectivity is linked with tinnitus characteristics. • Thalamocortical connectivity disturbances can reflect tinnitus-related networks. - Abstract: Purpose: The phantom sound of tinnitus is believed to arise from abnormal functional coupling between the thalamus and cerebral cortex. To explore this hypothesis, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the degree of thalamocortical functional connectivity in chronic tinnitus patients and controls. Materials and methods: Resting-state fMRI scans were obtained from 31 chronic tinnitus patients and 33 well-matched healthy controls. Thalamocortical functional connectivity was characterized using a seed-based whole-brain correlation method. The resulting thalamic functional connectivity measures were correlated with other clinical data. Results: We found decreased functional connectivity between the seed region in left thalamus and right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), right middle orbitofrontal cortex, left middle frontal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, and bilateral calcarine cortex. Decreased functional connectivity was detected between the seed in the right thalamus and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), left amygdala, right superior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus. Tinnitus distress correlated negatively with thalamic functional connectivity in right MTG; tinnitus duration correlated negatively with thalamic functional connectivity in left STG. Increased functional connectivity between the bilateral thalamus and a set of regions were also observed. Conclusions: Chronic tinnitus patients have disrupted thalamocortical functional connectivity to selected brain regions which is associated with specific tinnitus characteristics. Resting-state thalamic functional connectivity disturbances may play an important role in

  4. Impairments of thalamic resting-state functional connectivity in patients with chronic tinnitus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Jian; Chen, Yu-Chen; Feng, Xu; Yang, Ming; Liu, Bin; Qian, Cheng; Wang, Jian; Salvi, Richard; Teng, Gao-Jun

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Tinnitus patients have aberrant thalamic connectivity to many brain regions. • Decreased thalamic connectivity is linked with tinnitus characteristics. • Thalamocortical connectivity disturbances can reflect tinnitus-related networks. - Abstract: Purpose: The phantom sound of tinnitus is believed to arise from abnormal functional coupling between the thalamus and cerebral cortex. To explore this hypothesis, we used resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare the degree of thalamocortical functional connectivity in chronic tinnitus patients and controls. Materials and methods: Resting-state fMRI scans were obtained from 31 chronic tinnitus patients and 33 well-matched healthy controls. Thalamocortical functional connectivity was characterized using a seed-based whole-brain correlation method. The resulting thalamic functional connectivity measures were correlated with other clinical data. Results: We found decreased functional connectivity between the seed region in left thalamus and right middle temporal gyrus (MTG), right middle orbitofrontal cortex, left middle frontal gyrus, right precentral gyrus, and bilateral calcarine cortex. Decreased functional connectivity was detected between the seed in the right thalamus and the left superior temporal gyrus (STG), left amygdala, right superior frontal gyrus, left precentral gyrus, and left middle occipital gyrus. Tinnitus distress correlated negatively with thalamic functional connectivity in right MTG; tinnitus duration correlated negatively with thalamic functional connectivity in left STG. Increased functional connectivity between the bilateral thalamus and a set of regions were also observed. Conclusions: Chronic tinnitus patients have disrupted thalamocortical functional connectivity to selected brain regions which is associated with specific tinnitus characteristics. Resting-state thalamic functional connectivity disturbances may play an important role in

  5. Dynamic shifting in thalamocortical processing during different behavioural states.

    OpenAIRE

    Nicolelis, Miguel A L; Fanselow, Erika E

    2002-01-01

    Recent experiments in our laboratory have indicated that as rats shift the behavioural strategy employed to explore their surrounding environment, there is a parallel change in the physiological properties of the neuronal ensembles that define the main thalamocortical loop of the trigeminal somatosensory system. Based on experimental evidence from several laboratories, we propose that this concurrent shift in behavioural strategy and thalamocortical physiological properties provides rats with...

  6. Comparing Intrinsic Connectivity Models for the Primary Auditory Cortices

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamid, Khairiah Abdul; Yusoff, Ahmad Nazlim; Mohamad, Mazlyfarina; Hamid, Aini Ismafairus Abd; Manan, Hanani Abd

    2010-07-01

    This fMRI study is about modeling the intrinsic connectivity between Heschl' gyrus (HG) and superior temporal gyrus (STG) in human primary auditory cortices. Ten healthy male subjects participated and required to listen to white noise stimulus during the fMRI scans. Two intrinsic connectivity models comprising bilateral HG and STG were constructed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM) and dynamic causal modeling (DCM). Group Bayes factor (GBF), positive evidence ratio (PER) and Bayesian model selection (BMS) for group studies were used in model comparison. Group results indicated significant bilateral asymmetrical activation (puncorr < 0.001) in HG and STG. Comparison results showed strong evidence of Model 2 as the preferred model (STG as the input center) with GBF value of 5.77 × 1073 The model is preferred by 6 out of 10 subjects. The results were supported by BMS results for group studies. One-sample t-test on connection values obtained from Model 2 indicates unidirectional parallel connections from STG to bilateral HG (p<0.05). Model 2 was determined to be the most probable intrinsic connectivity model between bilateral HG and STG when listening to white noise.

  7. Altered auditory processing and effective connectivity in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Larsen, Kit Melissa; Mørup, Morten; Birknow, Michelle Rosgaard

    2018-01-01

    . Mismatch negativity (MMN), a brain marker of change detection, is reduced in people with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. Using dynamic causal modelling (DCM), previous studies showed that top-down effective connectivity linking the frontal and temporal cortex is reduced in schizophrenia......11.2 deletion carriers. DCM showed reduced intrinsic connection within right primary auditory cortex as well as in the top-down, connection from the right inferior frontal gyrus to right superior temporal gyrus for 22q11.2 deletion carriers although not surviving correction for multiple comparison...

  8. Tinnitus distress is linked to enhanced resting-state functional connectivity from the limbic system to the auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yu-Chen; Xia, Wenqing; Chen, Huiyou; Feng, Yuan; Xu, Jin-Jing; Gu, Jian-Ping; Salvi, Richard; Yin, Xindao

    2017-05-01

    The phantom sound of tinnitus is believed to be triggered by aberrant neural activity in the central auditory pathway, but since this debilitating condition is often associated with emotional distress and anxiety, these comorbidities likely arise from maladaptive functional connections to limbic structures such as the amygdala and hippocampus. To test this hypothesis, resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to identify aberrant effective connectivity of the amygdala and hippocampus in tinnitus patients and to determine the relationship with tinnitus characteristics. Chronic tinnitus patients (n = 26) and age-, sex-, and education-matched healthy controls (n = 23) were included. Both groups were comparable for hearing level. Granger causality analysis utilizing the amygdala and hippocampus as seed regions were used to investigate the directional connectivity and the relationship with tinnitus duration or distress. Relative to healthy controls, tinnitus patients demonstrated abnormal directional connectivity of the amygdala and hippocampus, including primary and association auditory cortex, and other non-auditory areas. Importantly, scores on the Tinnitus Handicap Questionnaires were positively correlated with increased connectivity from the left amygdala to left superior temporal gyrus (r = 0.570, P = 0.005), and from the right amygdala to right superior temporal gyrus (r = 0.487, P = 0.018). Moreover, enhanced effective connectivity from the right hippocampus to left transverse temporal gyrus was correlated with tinnitus duration (r = 0.452, P = 0.030). The results showed that tinnitus distress strongly correlates with enhanced effective connectivity that is directed from the amygdala to the auditory cortex. The longer the phantom sensation, the more likely acute tinnitus becomes permanently encoded by memory traces in the hippocampus. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2384-2397, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  9. Auditory training changes temporal lobe connectivity in 'Wernicke's aphasia': a randomised trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woodhead, Zoe Vj; Crinion, Jennifer; Teki, Sundeep; Penny, Will; Price, Cathy J; Leff, Alexander P

    2017-07-01

    Aphasia is one of the most disabling sequelae after stroke, occurring in 25%-40% of stroke survivors. However, there remains a lack of good evidence for the efficacy or mechanisms of speech comprehension rehabilitation. This within-subjects trial tested two concurrent interventions in 20 patients with chronic aphasia with speech comprehension impairment following left hemisphere stroke: (1) phonological training using 'Earobics' software and (2) a pharmacological intervention using donepezil, an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. Donepezil was tested in a double-blind, placebo-controlled, cross-over design using block randomisation with bias minimisation. The primary outcome measure was speech comprehension score on the comprehensive aphasia test. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) with an established index of auditory perception, the mismatch negativity response, tested whether the therapies altered effective connectivity at the lower (primary) or higher (secondary) level of the auditory network. Phonological training improved speech comprehension abilities and was particularly effective for patients with severe deficits. No major adverse effects of donepezil were observed, but it had an unpredicted negative effect on speech comprehension. The MEG analysis demonstrated that phonological training increased synaptic gain in the left superior temporal gyrus (STG). Patients with more severe speech comprehension impairments also showed strengthening of bidirectional connections between the left and right STG. Phonological training resulted in a small but significant improvement in speech comprehension, whereas donepezil had a negative effect. The connectivity results indicated that training reshaped higher order phonological representations in the left STG and (in more severe patients) induced stronger interhemispheric transfer of information between higher levels of auditory cortex.Clinical trial registrationThis trial was registered with EudraCT (2005-004215-30, https

  10. Auditory Connections and Functions of Prefrontal Cortex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bethany ePlakke

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available The functional auditory system extends from the ears to the frontal lobes with successively more complex functions occurring as one ascends the hierarchy of the nervous system. Several areas of the frontal lobe receive afferents from both early and late auditory processing regions within the temporal lobe. Afferents from the early part of the cortical auditory system, the auditory belt cortex, which are presumed to carry information regarding auditory features of sounds, project to only a few prefrontal regions and are most dense in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC. In contrast, projections from the parabelt and the rostral superior temporal gyrus (STG most likely convey more complex information and target a larger, widespread region of the prefrontal cortex. Neuronal responses reflect these anatomical projections as some prefrontal neurons exhibit responses to features in acoustic stimuli, while other neurons display task-related responses. For example, recording studies in non-human primates indicate that VLPFC is responsive to complex sounds including vocalizations and that VLPFC neurons in area 12/47 respond to sounds with similar acoustic morphology. In contrast, neuronal responses during auditory working memory involve a wider region of the prefrontal cortex. In humans, the frontal lobe is involved in auditory detection, discrimination, and working memory. Past research suggests that dorsal and ventral subregions of the prefrontal cortex process different types of information with dorsal cortex processing spatial/visual information and ventral cortex processing non-spatial/auditory information. While this is apparent in the non-human primate and in some neuroimaging studies, most research in humans indicates that specific task conditions, stimuli or previous experience may bias the recruitment of specific prefrontal regions, suggesting a more flexible role for the frontal lobe during auditory cognition.

  11. Auditory connections and functions of prefrontal cortex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plakke, Bethany; Romanski, Lizabeth M.

    2014-01-01

    The functional auditory system extends from the ears to the frontal lobes with successively more complex functions occurring as one ascends the hierarchy of the nervous system. Several areas of the frontal lobe receive afferents from both early and late auditory processing regions within the temporal lobe. Afferents from the early part of the cortical auditory system, the auditory belt cortex, which are presumed to carry information regarding auditory features of sounds, project to only a few prefrontal regions and are most dense in the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC). In contrast, projections from the parabelt and the rostral superior temporal gyrus (STG) most likely convey more complex information and target a larger, widespread region of the prefrontal cortex. Neuronal responses reflect these anatomical projections as some prefrontal neurons exhibit responses to features in acoustic stimuli, while other neurons display task-related responses. For example, recording studies in non-human primates indicate that VLPFC is responsive to complex sounds including vocalizations and that VLPFC neurons in area 12/47 respond to sounds with similar acoustic morphology. In contrast, neuronal responses during auditory working memory involve a wider region of the prefrontal cortex. In humans, the frontal lobe is involved in auditory detection, discrimination, and working memory. Past research suggests that dorsal and ventral subregions of the prefrontal cortex process different types of information with dorsal cortex processing spatial/visual information and ventral cortex processing non-spatial/auditory information. While this is apparent in the non-human primate and in some neuroimaging studies, most research in humans indicates that specific task conditions, stimuli or previous experience may bias the recruitment of specific prefrontal regions, suggesting a more flexible role for the frontal lobe during auditory cognition. PMID:25100931

  12. The Thalamocortical Projection Systems in Primate: An Anatomical Support for Multisensory and Sensorimotor Interplay

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cappe, Céline; Morel, Anne; Barone, Pascal

    2009-01-01

    Multisensory and sensorimotor integrations are usually considered to occur in superior colliculus and cerebral cortex, but few studies proposed the thalamus as being involved in these integrative processes. We investigated whether the organization of the thalamocortical (TC) systems for different modalities partly overlap, representing an anatomical support for multisensory and sensorimotor interplay in thalamus. In 2 macaque monkeys, 6 neuroanatomical tracers were injected in the rostral and caudal auditory cortex, posterior parietal cortex (PE/PEa in area 5), and dorsal and ventral premotor cortical areas (PMd, PMv), demonstrating the existence of overlapping territories of thalamic projections to areas of different modalities (sensory and motor). TC projections, distinct from the ones arising from specific unimodal sensory nuclei, were observed from motor thalamus to PE/PEa or auditory cortex and from sensory thalamus to PMd/PMv. The central lateral nucleus and the mediodorsal nucleus project to all injected areas, but the most significant overlap across modalities was found in the medial pulvinar nucleus. The present results demonstrate the presence of thalamic territories integrating different sensory modalities with motor attributes. Based on the divergent/convergent pattern of TC and corticothalamic projections, 4 distinct mechanisms of multisensory and sensorimotor interplay are proposed. PMID:19150924

  13. Dynamics of circadian thalamocortical flow of information during a peripheral neuropathic pain condition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helder eCardoso-Cruz

    2011-08-01

    Full Text Available It is known that the thalamocortical loop plays a crucial role in the encoding of sensory-discriminative features of painful stimuli. However, only a few studies have addressed the changes in thalamocortical dynamics that may occur after the onset of chronic pain. Our goal was to evaluate how the induction of chronic neuropathic pain affected the flow of information within the thalamocortical loop throughout the brain states of the sleep-wake cycle. To address this issue we recorded local field potentials – LFPs – both before and after the establishment of neuropathic pain in awake freely moving adult rats chronically implanted with arrays of multielectrodes in the lateral thalamus and primary somatosensory cortex. Our results show that the neuropathic injury induced changes in the number of wake and slow-wave-sleep state episodes, and especially in the total number of transitions between brain states. Moreover, partial directed coherence – PDC – analysis revealed that the amount of information flow between cortex and thalamus in neuropathic animals decreased significantly, indicating that the overall thalamic activity had less weight over the cortical activity. However, thalamocortical LFPs displayed higher phase-locking during awake and slow-wave-sleep episodes after the nerve lesion, suggesting faster transmission of relevant information along the thalamocortical loop. The observed changes are in agreement with the hypothesis of thalamic dysfunction after the onset of chronic pain, and may result from diminished inhibitory effect of the primary somatosensory cortex over the lateral thalamus.

  14. Emergent Auditory Feature Tuning in a Real-Time Neuromorphic VLSI System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheik, Sadique; Coath, Martin; Indiveri, Giacomo; Denham, Susan L; Wennekers, Thomas; Chicca, Elisabetta

    2012-01-01

    Many sounds of ecological importance, such as communication calls, are characterized by time-varying spectra. However, most neuromorphic auditory models to date have focused on distinguishing mainly static patterns, under the assumption that dynamic patterns can be learned as sequences of static ones. In contrast, the emergence of dynamic feature sensitivity through exposure to formative stimuli has been recently modeled in a network of spiking neurons based on the thalamo-cortical architecture. The proposed network models the effect of lateral and recurrent connections between cortical layers, distance-dependent axonal transmission delays, and learning in the form of Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP), which effects stimulus-driven changes in the pattern of network connectivity. In this paper we demonstrate how these principles can be efficiently implemented in neuromorphic hardware. In doing so we address two principle problems in the design of neuromorphic systems: real-time event-based asynchronous communication in multi-chip systems, and the realization in hybrid analog/digital VLSI technology of neural computational principles that we propose underlie plasticity in neural processing of dynamic stimuli. The result is a hardware neural network that learns in real-time and shows preferential responses, after exposure, to stimuli exhibiting particular spectro-temporal patterns. The availability of hardware on which the model can be implemented, makes this a significant step toward the development of adaptive, neurobiologically plausible, spike-based, artificial sensory systems.

  15. Emergent auditory feature tuning in a real-time neuromorphic VLSI system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sadique eSheik

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Many sounds of ecological importance, such as communication calls, are characterised by time-varying spectra. However, most neuromorphic auditory models to date have focused on distinguishing mainly static patterns, under the assumption that dynamic patterns can be learned as sequences of static ones. In contrast, the emergence of dynamic feature sensitivity through exposure to formative stimuli has been recently modeled in a network of spiking neurons based on the thalamocortical architecture. The proposed network models the effect of lateral and recurrent connections between cortical layers, distance-dependent axonal transmission delays, and learning in the form of Spike Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP, which effects stimulus-driven changes in the pattern of network connectivity. In this paper we demonstrate how these principles can be efficiently implemented in neuromorphic hardware. In doing so we address two principle problems in the design of neuromorphic systems: real-time event-based asynchronous communication in multi-chip systems, and the realization in hybrid analog/digital VLSI technology of neural computational principles that we propose underlie plasticity in neural processing of dynamic stimuli. The result is a hardware neural network that learns in real-time and shows preferential responses, after exposure, to stimuli exhibiting particular spectrotemporal patterns. The availability of hardware on which the model can be implemented, makes this a significant step towards the development of adaptive, neurobiologically plausible, spike-based, artificial sensory systems.

  16. Interaction of language, auditory and memory brain networks in auditory verbal hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ćurčić-Blake, Branislava; Ford, Judith M; Hubl, Daniela; Orlov, Natasza D; Sommer, Iris E; Waters, Flavie; Allen, Paul; Jardri, Renaud; Woodruff, Peter W; David, Olivier; Mulert, Christoph; Woodward, Todd S; Aleman, André

    2017-01-01

    Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) occur in psychotic disorders, but also as a symptom of other conditions and even in healthy people. Several current theories on the origin of AVH converge, with neuroimaging studies suggesting that the language, auditory and memory/limbic networks are of particular relevance. However, reconciliation of these theories with experimental evidence is missing. We review 50 studies investigating functional (EEG and fMRI) and anatomic (diffusion tensor imaging) connectivity in these networks, and explore the evidence supporting abnormal connectivity in these networks associated with AVH. We distinguish between functional connectivity during an actual hallucination experience (symptom capture) and functional connectivity during either the resting state or a task comparing individuals who hallucinate with those who do not (symptom association studies). Symptom capture studies clearly reveal a pattern of increased coupling among the auditory, language and striatal regions. Anatomical and symptom association functional studies suggest that the interhemispheric connectivity between posterior auditory regions may depend on the phase of illness, with increases in non-psychotic individuals and first episode patients and decreases in chronic patients. Leading hypotheses involving concepts as unstable memories, source monitoring, top-down attention, and hybrid models of hallucinations are supported in part by the published connectivity data, although several caveats and inconsistencies remain. Specifically, possible changes in fronto-temporal connectivity are still under debate. Precise hypotheses concerning the directionality of connections deduced from current theoretical approaches should be tested using experimental approaches that allow for discrimination of competing hypotheses. Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  17. Children with reading disability show brain differences in effective connectivity for visual, but not auditory word comprehension.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Liu

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Previous literature suggests that those with reading disability (RD have more pronounced deficits during semantic processing in reading as compared to listening comprehension. This discrepancy has been supported by recent neuroimaging studies showing abnormal activity in RD during semantic processing in the visual but not in the auditory modality. Whether effective connectivity between brain regions in RD could also show this pattern of discrepancy has not been investigated.Children (8- to 14-year-olds were given a semantic task in the visual and auditory modality that required an association judgment as to whether two sequentially presented words were associated. Effective connectivity was investigated using Dynamic Causal Modeling (DCM on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI data. Bayesian Model Selection (BMS was used separately for each modality to find a winning family of DCM models separately for typically developing (TD and RD children. BMS yielded the same winning family with modulatory effects on bottom-up connections from the input regions to middle temporal gyrus (MTG and inferior frontal gyrus(IFG with inconclusive evidence regarding top-down modulations. Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA was thus conducted across models in this winning family and compared across groups. The bottom-up effect from the fusiform gyrus (FG to MTG rather than the top-down effect from IFG to MTG was stronger in TD compared to RD for the visual modality. The stronger bottom-up influence in TD was only evident for related word pairs but not for unrelated pairs. No group differences were noted in the auditory modality.This study revealed a modality-specific deficit for children with RD in bottom-up effective connectivity from orthographic to semantic processing regions. There were no group differences in connectivity from frontal regions, suggesting that the core deficit in RD is not in top-down modulation.

  18. Modulation of thalamocortical oscillations by TRIP8b, an auxiliary subunit for HCN channels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zobeiri, Mehrnoush; Chaudhary, Rahul; Datunashvili, Maia; Heuermann, Robert J; Lüttjohann, Annika; Narayanan, Venu; Balfanz, Sabine; Meuth, Patrick; Chetkovich, Dane M; Pape, Hans-Christian; Baumann, Arnd; van Luijtelaar, Gilles; Budde, Thomas

    2018-04-01

    Hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated cation (HCN) channels have important functions in controlling neuronal excitability and generating rhythmic oscillatory activity. The role of tetratricopeptide repeat-containing Rab8b-interacting protein (TRIP8b) in regulation of hyperpolarization-activated inward current, I h , in the thalamocortical system and its functional relevance for the physiological thalamocortical oscillations were investigated. A significant decrease in I h current density, in both thalamocortical relay (TC) and cortical pyramidal neurons was found in TRIP8b-deficient mice (TRIP8b -/- ). In addition basal cAMP levels in the brain were found to be decreased while the availability of the fast transient A-type K + current, I A , in TC neurons was increased. These changes were associated with alterations in intrinsic properties and firing patterns of TC neurons, as well as intrathalamic and thalamocortical network oscillations, revealing a significant increase in slow oscillations in the delta frequency range (0.5-4 Hz) during episodes of active-wakefulness. In addition, absence of TRIP8b suppresses the normal desynchronization response of the EEG during the switch from slow-wave sleep to wakefulness. It is concluded that TRIP8b is necessary for the modulation of physiological thalamocortical oscillations due to its direct effect on HCN channel expression in thalamus and cortex and that mechanisms related to reduced cAMP signaling may contribute to the present findings.

  19. Connectivity in the human brain dissociates entropy and complexity of auditory inputs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nastase, Samuel A; Iacovella, Vittorio; Davis, Ben; Hasson, Uri

    2015-03-01

    Complex systems are described according to two central dimensions: (a) the randomness of their output, quantified via entropy; and (b) their complexity, which reflects the organization of a system's generators. Whereas some approaches hold that complexity can be reduced to uncertainty or entropy, an axiom of complexity science is that signals with very high or very low entropy are generated by relatively non-complex systems, while complex systems typically generate outputs with entropy peaking between these two extremes. In understanding their environment, individuals would benefit from coding for both input entropy and complexity; entropy indexes uncertainty and can inform probabilistic coding strategies, whereas complexity reflects a concise and abstract representation of the underlying environmental configuration, which can serve independent purposes, e.g., as a template for generalization and rapid comparisons between environments. Using functional neuroimaging, we demonstrate that, in response to passively processed auditory inputs, functional integration patterns in the human brain track both the entropy and complexity of the auditory signal. Connectivity between several brain regions scaled monotonically with input entropy, suggesting sensitivity to uncertainty, whereas connectivity between other regions tracked entropy in a convex manner consistent with sensitivity to input complexity. These findings suggest that the human brain simultaneously tracks the uncertainty of sensory data and effectively models their environmental generators. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  20. Distinct kinetics of inhibitory currents in thalamocortical neurons that arise from dendritic or axonal origin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sunggu Yang

    Full Text Available Thalamocortical neurons in the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN transfer visual information from retina to primary visual cortex. This information is modulated by inhibitory input arising from local interneurons and thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN neurons, leading to alterations of receptive field properties of thalamocortical neurons. Local GABAergic interneurons provide two distinct synaptic outputs: axonal (F1 terminals and dendritic (F2 terminals onto dLGN thalamocortical neurons. By contrast, TRN neurons provide only axonal output (F1 terminals onto dLGN thalamocortical neurons. It is unclear if GABAA receptor-mediated currents originating from F1 and F2 terminals have different characteristics. In the present study, we examined multiple characteristics (rise time, slope, halfwidth and decay τ of GABAA receptor-mediated miniature inhibitory postsynaptic synaptic currents (mIPSCs originating from F1 and F2 terminals. The mIPSCs arising from F2 terminals showed slower kinetics relative to those from F1 terminals. Such differential kinetics of GABAAR-mediated responses could be an important role in temporal coding of visual signals.

  1. Combined Effects of Feedforward Inhibition and Excitation in Thalamocortical Circuit on the Transitions of Epileptic Seizures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fan, Denggui; Duan, Lixia; Wang, Qian; Luan, Guoming

    2017-01-01

    The mechanisms underlying electrophysiologically observed two-way transitions between absence and tonic-clonic epileptic seizures in cerebral cortex remain unknown. The interplay within thalamocortical network is believed to give rise to these epileptic multiple modes of activity and transitions between them. In particular, it is thought that in some areas of cortex there exists feedforward inhibition from specific relay nucleus of thalamus (TC) to inhibitory neuronal population (IN) which has even more stronger functions on cortical activities than the known feedforward excitation from TC to excitatory neuronal population (EX). Inspired by this, we proposed a modified computational model by introducing feedforward inhibitory connectivity within thalamocortical circuit, to systematically investigate the combined effects of feedforward inhibition and excitation on transitions of epileptic seizures. We first found that the feedforward excitation can induce the transition from tonic oscillation to spike and wave discharges (SWD) in cortex, i.e., the epileptic tonic-absence seizures, with the fixed weak feedforward inhibition. Thereinto, the phase of absence seizures corresponding to strong feedforward excitation can be further transformed into the clonic oscillations with the increasing of feedforward inhibition, representing the epileptic absence-clonic seizures. We also observed the other fascinating dynamical states, such as periodic 2/3/4-spike and wave discharges, reversed SWD and clonic oscillations, as well as saturated firings. More importantly, we can identify the stable parameter regions representing the tonic-clonic oscillations and SWD discharges of epileptic seizures on the 2-D plane composed of feedforward inhibition and excitation, where the physiologically plausible transition pathways between tonic-clonic and absence seizures can be figured out. These results indicate the functional role of feedforward pathways in controlling epileptic seizures and

  2. Combined Effects of Feedforward Inhibition and Excitation in Thalamocortical Circuit on the Transitions of Epileptic Seizures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denggui Fan

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available The mechanisms underlying electrophysiologically observed two-way transitions between absence and tonic-clonic epileptic seizures in cerebral cortex remain unknown. The interplay within thalamocortical network is believed to give rise to these epileptic multiple modes of activity and transitions between them. In particular, it is thought that in some areas of cortex there exists feedforward inhibition from specific relay nucleus of thalamus (TC to inhibitory neuronal population (IN which has even more stronger functions on cortical activities than the known feedforward excitation from TC to excitatory neuronal population (EX. Inspired by this, we proposed a modified computational model by introducing feedforward inhibitory connectivity within thalamocortical circuit, to systematically investigate the combined effects of feedforward inhibition and excitation on transitions of epileptic seizures. We first found that the feedforward excitation can induce the transition from tonic oscillation to spike and wave discharges (SWD in cortex, i.e., the epileptic tonic-absence seizures, with the fixed weak feedforward inhibition. Thereinto, the phase of absence seizures corresponding to strong feedforward excitation can be further transformed into the clonic oscillations with the increasing of feedforward inhibition, representing the epileptic absence-clonic seizures. We also observed the other fascinating dynamical states, such as periodic 2/3/4-spike and wave discharges, reversed SWD and clonic oscillations, as well as saturated firings. More importantly, we can identify the stable parameter regions representing the tonic-clonic oscillations and SWD discharges of epileptic seizures on the 2-D plane composed of feedforward inhibition and excitation, where the physiologically plausible transition pathways between tonic-clonic and absence seizures can be figured out. These results indicate the functional role of feedforward pathways in controlling epileptic

  3. Music and the auditory brain: where is the connection?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Israel eNelken

    2011-09-01

    Full Text Available Sound processing by the auditory system is understood in unprecedented details, even compared with sensory coding in the visual system. Nevertheless, we don't understand yet the way in which some of the simplest perceptual properties of sounds are coded in neuronal activity. This poses serious difficulties for linking neuronal responses in the auditory system and music processing, since music operates on abstract representations of sounds. Paradoxically, although perceptual representations of sounds most probably occur high in auditory system or even beyond it, neuronal responses are strongly affected by the temporal organization of sound streams even in subcortical stations. Thus, to the extent that music is organized sound, it is the organization, rather than the sound, which is represented first in the auditory brain.

  4. Mapping remodeling of thalamocortical projections in the living reeler mouse brain by diffusion tractography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harsan, Laura-Adela; Dávid, Csaba; Reisert, Marco; Schnell, Susanne; Hennig, Jürgen; von Elverfeldt, Dominik; Staiger, Jochen F.

    2013-01-01

    A major challenge in neuroscience is to accurately decipher in vivo the entire brain circuitry (connectome) at a microscopic level. Currently, the only methodology providing a global noninvasive window into structural brain connectivity is diffusion tractography. The extent to which the reconstructed pathways reflect realistic neuronal networks depends, however, on data acquisition and postprocessing factors. Through a unique combination of approaches, we designed and evaluated herein a framework for reliable fiber tracking and mapping of the living mouse brain connectome. One important wiring scheme, connecting gray matter regions and passing fiber-crossing areas, was closely examined: the lemniscal thalamocortical (TC) pathway. We quantitatively validated the TC projections inferred from in vivo tractography with correlative histological axonal tracing in the same wild-type and reeler mutant mice. We demonstrated noninvasively that changes in patterning of the cortical sheet, such as highly disorganized cortical lamination in reeler, led to spectacular compensatory remodeling of the TC pathway. PMID:23610438

  5. An analysis of mathematical connection ability based on student learning style on visualization auditory kinesthetic (VAK) learning model with self-assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Apipah, S.; Kartono; Isnarto

    2018-03-01

    This research aims to analyze the quality of VAK learning with self-assessment toward the ability of mathematical connection performed by students and to analyze students’ mathematical connection ability based on learning styles in VAK learning model with self-assessment. This research applies mixed method type with concurrent embedded design. The subject of this research consists of VIII grade students from State Junior High School 9 Semarang who apply visual learning style, auditory learning style, and kinesthetic learning style. The data of learning style is collected by using questionnaires, the data of mathematical connection ability is collected by performing tests, and the data of self-assessment is collected by using assessment sheets. The quality of learning is qualitatively valued from planning stage, realization stage, and valuation stage. The result of mathematical connection ability test is analyzed quantitatively by mean test, conducting completeness test, mean differentiation test, and mean proportional differentiation test. The result of the research shows that VAK learning model results in well-qualified learning regarded from qualitative and quantitative sides. Students with visual learning style perform the highest mathematical connection ability, students with kinesthetic learning style perform average mathematical connection ability, and students with auditory learning style perform the lowest mathematical connection ability.

  6. A Brain System for Auditory Working Memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sukhbinder; Joseph, Sabine; Gander, Phillip E; Barascud, Nicolas; Halpern, Andrea R; Griffiths, Timothy D

    2016-04-20

    The brain basis for auditory working memory, the process of actively maintaining sounds in memory over short periods of time, is controversial. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in human participants, we demonstrate that the maintenance of single tones in memory is associated with activation in auditory cortex. In addition, sustained activation was observed in hippocampus and inferior frontal gyrus. Multivoxel pattern analysis showed that patterns of activity in auditory cortex and left inferior frontal gyrus distinguished the tone that was maintained in memory. Functional connectivity during maintenance was demonstrated between auditory cortex and both the hippocampus and inferior frontal cortex. The data support a system for auditory working memory based on the maintenance of sound-specific representations in auditory cortex by projections from higher-order areas, including the hippocampus and frontal cortex. In this work, we demonstrate a system for maintaining sound in working memory based on activity in auditory cortex, hippocampus, and frontal cortex, and functional connectivity among them. Specifically, our work makes three advances from the previous work. First, we robustly demonstrate hippocampal involvement in all phases of auditory working memory (encoding, maintenance, and retrieval): the role of hippocampus in working memory is controversial. Second, using a pattern classification technique, we show that activity in the auditory cortex and inferior frontal gyrus is specific to the maintained tones in working memory. Third, we show long-range connectivity of auditory cortex to hippocampus and frontal cortex, which may be responsible for keeping such representations active during working memory maintenance. Copyright © 2016 Kumar et al.

  7. Benefits and detriments of unilateral cochlear implant use on bilateral auditory development in children who are deaf

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karen A. Gordon

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available We have explored both the benefits and detriments of providing electrical input through a cochlear implant in one ear to the auditory system of young children. A cochlear implant delivers electrical pulses to stimulate the auditory nerve, providing children who are deaf with access to sound. The goals of implantation are to restrict reorganization of the deprived immature auditory brain and promote development of hearing and spoken language. It is clear that limiting the duration of deprivation is a key factor. Additional considerations are the onset, etiology, and use of residual hearing as each of these can have unique effects on auditory development in the pre-implant period. New findings show that many children receiving unilateral cochlear implants are developing mature-like brainstem and thalamo-cortical responses to sound with long term use despite these sources of variability; however, there remain considerable abnormalities in cortical function. The most apparent, determined by implanting the other ear and measuring responses to acute stimulation, is a loss of normal cortical response from the deprived ear. Recent data reveal that this can be avoided in children by early implantation of both ears simultaneously or with limited delay. We conclude that auditory development requires input early in development and from both ears.

  8. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Targeting Primary Motor Versus Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortices: Proof-of-Concept Study Investigating Functional Connectivity of Thalamocortical Networks Specific to Sensory-Affective Information Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sankarasubramanian, Vishwanath; Cunningham, David A; Potter-Baker, Kelsey A; Beall, Erik B; Roelle, Sarah M; Varnerin, Nicole M; Machado, Andre G; Jones, Stephen E; Lowe, Mark J; Plow, Ela B

    2017-04-01

    The pain matrix is comprised of an extensive network of brain structures involved in sensory and/or affective information processing. The thalamus is a key structure constituting the pain matrix. The thalamus serves as a relay center receiving information from multiple ascending pathways and relating information to and from multiple cortical areas. However, it is unknown how thalamocortical networks specific to sensory-affective information processing are functionally integrated. Here, in a proof-of-concept study in healthy humans, we aimed to understand this connectivity using transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) targeting primary motor (M1) or dorsolateral prefrontal cortices (DLPFC). We compared changes in functional connectivity (FC) with DLPFC tDCS to changes in FC with M1 tDCS. FC changes were also compared to further investigate its relation with individual's baseline experience of pain. We hypothesized that resting-state FC would change based on tDCS location and would represent known thalamocortical networks. Ten right-handed individuals received a single application of anodal tDCS (1 mA, 20 min) to right M1 and DLPFC in a single-blind, sham-controlled crossover study. FC changes were studied between ventroposterolateral (VPL), the sensory nucleus of thalamus, and cortical areas involved in sensory information processing and between medial dorsal (MD), the affective nucleus, and cortical areas involved in affective information processing. Individual's perception of pain at baseline was assessed using cutaneous heat pain stimuli. We found that anodal M1 tDCS and anodal DLPFC tDCS both increased FC between VPL and sensorimotor cortices, although FC effects were greater with M1 tDCS. Similarly, anodal M1 tDCS and anodal DLPFC tDCS both increased FC between MD and motor cortices, but only DLPFC tDCS modulated FC between MD and affective cortices, like DLPFC. Our findings suggest that M1 stimulation primarily modulates FC of sensory networks

  9. Organization of the auditory brainstem in a lizard, Gekko gecko. I. Auditory nerve, cochlear nuclei, and superior olivary nuclei

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tang, Y. Z.; Christensen-Dalsgaard, J.; Carr, C. E.

    2012-01-01

    We used tract tracing to reveal the connections of the auditory brainstem in the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko). The auditory nerve has two divisions, a rostroventrally directed projection of mid- to high best-frequency fibers to the nucleus angularis (NA) and a more dorsal and caudal projection of lo...... of auditory connections in lizards and archosaurs but also different processing of low- and high-frequency information in the brainstem. J. Comp. Neurol. 520:17841799, 2012. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc...

  10. Examining frontotemporal connectivity and rTMS in healthy controls: implications for auditory hallucinations in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gromann, Paula M; Tracy, Derek K; Giampietro, Vincent; Brammer, Michael J; Krabbendam, Lydia; Shergill, Sukhwinder S

    2012-01-01

    Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) has been shown to have clinically beneficial effects in altering the perception of auditory hallucinations (AH) in patients with schizophrenia. However, the mode of action is not clear. Recent neuroimaging findings indicate that rTMS has the potential to induce not only local effects but also changes in remote, functionally connected brain regions. Frontotemporal dysconnectivity has been proposed as a mechanism leading to psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia. The current study examines functional connectivity between temporal and frontal brain regions after rTMS and the implications for AH in schizophrenia. A connectivity analysis was conducted on the fMRI data of 11 healthy controls receiving rTMS, compared with 11 matched subjects receiving sham TMS, to the temporoparietal junction, before engaging in a task associated with robust frontotemporal activation. Compared to the control group, the rTMS group showed an altered frontotemporal connectivity with stronger connectivity between the right temporoparietal cortex and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and the angular gyrus. This finding provides preliminary evidence for the hypothesis that normalizing the functional connectivity between the temporoparietal and frontal brain regions may underlie the therapeutic effect of rTMS on AH in schizophrenia.

  11. Detection of stimulus deviance within primate primary auditory cortex: intracortical mechanisms of mismatch negativity (MMN) generation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Javitt, D C; Steinschneider, M; Schroeder, C E; Vaughan, H G; Arezzo, J C

    1994-12-26

    Mismatch negativity (MMN) is a cognitive, auditory event-related potential (AEP) that reflects preattentive detection of stimulus deviance and indexes the operation of the auditory sensory ('echoic') memory system. MMN is elicited most commonly in an auditory oddball paradigm in which a sequence of repetitive standard stimuli is interrupted infrequently and unexpectedly by a physically deviant 'oddball' stimulus. Electro- and magnetoencephalographic dipole mapping studies have localized the generators of MMN to supratemporal auditory cortex in the vicinity of Heschl's gyrus, but have not determined the degree to which MMN reflects activation within primary auditory cortex (AI) itself. The present study, using moveable multichannel electrodes inserted acutely into superior temporal plane, demonstrates a significant contribution of AI to scalp-recorded MMN in the monkey, as reflected by greater response of AI to loud or soft clicks presented as deviants than to the same stimuli presented as repetitive standards. The MMN-like activity was localized primarily to supragranular laminae within AI. Thus, standard and deviant stimuli elicited similar degrees of initial, thalamocortical excitation. In contrast, responses within supragranular cortex were significantly larger to deviant stimuli than to standards. No MMN-like activity was detected in a limited number to passes that penetrated anterior and medial to AI. AI plays a well established role in the decoding of the acoustic properties of individual stimuli. The present study demonstrates that primary auditory cortex also plays an important role in processing the relationships between stimuli, and thus participates in cognitive, as well as purely sensory, processing of auditory information.

  12. Selective increase of auditory cortico-striatal coherence during auditory-cued Go/NoGo discrimination learning.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreas L. Schulz

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Goal directed behavior and associated learning processes are tightly linked to neuronal activity in the ventral striatum. Mechanisms that integrate task relevant sensory information into striatal processing during decision making and learning are implicitly assumed in current reinforcementmodels, yet they are still weakly understood. To identify the functional activation of cortico-striatal subpopulations of connections during auditory discrimination learning, we trained Mongolian gerbils in a two-way active avoidance task in a shuttlebox to discriminate between falling and rising frequency modulated tones with identical spectral properties. We assessed functional coupling by analyzing the field-field coherence between the auditory cortex and the ventral striatum of animals performing the task. During the course of training, we observed a selective increase of functionalcoupling during Go-stimulus presentations. These results suggest that the auditory cortex functionally interacts with the ventral striatum during auditory learning and that the strengthening of these functional connections is selectively goal-directed.

  13. Thalamocortical Projection Neuron and Interneuron Numbers in the Visual Thalamic Nuclei of the Adult C57BL/6 Mouse.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Evangelio, Marian; García-Amado, María; Clascá, Francisco

    2018-01-01

    A key parameter to constrain predictive, bottom-up circuit models of a given brain domain is the number and position of the neuronal populations involved. These include not only the neurons whose bodies reside within the domain, but also the neurons in distant regions that innervate the domain. The mouse visual cortex receives its main subcortical input from the dorsal lateral geniculate nucleus (dLGN) and the lateral posterior (LP) complex of the thalamus. The latter consists of three different nuclei: lateral posterior lateral (LPL), lateral posterior medial rostral (LPMR), and lateral posterior medial caudal (LPMC), each exhibiting specific patterns of connections with the various visual cortical areas. Here, we have determined the number of thalamocortical projection neurons and interneurons in the LP complex and dLGN of the adult C57BL/6 male mouse. We combined Nissl staining and histochemical and immunolabeling methods for consistently delineating nuclei borders, and applied unbiased stereological cell counting methods. Thalamic interneurons were identified using GABA immunolabeling. The C57BL/6 dLGN contains ∼21,200 neurons, while LP complex contains ∼31,000 total neurons. The dLGN and LP are the only nuclei of the mouse dorsal thalamus containing substantial numbers GABA-immunoreactive interneurons. These interneurons, however, are scarcer than previously estimated; they are 5.6% of dLGN neurons and just 1.9% of the LP neurons. It can be thus inferred that the dLGN contains ∼20,000 and the LP complex ∼30,400 thalamocortical projection neurons (∼12,000 in LPL, 15,200 in LPMR, and 4,200 in LPMC). The present dataset is relevant for constraining models of mouse visual thalamocortical circuits, as well as for quantitative comparisons between genetically modified mouse strains, or across species.

  14. Detecting Functional Connectivity During Audiovisual Integration with MEG: A Comparison of Connectivity Metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ard, Tyler; Carver, Frederick W; Holroyd, Tom; Horwitz, Barry; Coppola, Richard

    2015-08-01

    In typical magnetoencephalography and/or electroencephalography functional connectivity analysis, researchers select one of several methods that measure a relationship between regions to determine connectivity, such as coherence, power correlations, and others. However, it is largely unknown if some are more suited than others for various types of investigations. In this study, the authors investigate seven connectivity metrics to evaluate which, if any, are sensitive to audiovisual integration by contrasting connectivity when tracking an audiovisual object versus connectivity when tracking a visual object uncorrelated with the auditory stimulus. The authors are able to assess the metrics' performances at detecting audiovisual integration by investigating connectivity between auditory and visual areas. Critically, the authors perform their investigation on a whole-cortex all-to-all mapping, avoiding confounds introduced in seed selection. The authors find that amplitude-based connectivity measures in the beta band detect strong connections between visual and auditory areas during audiovisual integration, specifically between V4/V5 and auditory cortices in the right hemisphere. Conversely, phase-based connectivity measures in the beta band as well as phase and power measures in alpha, gamma, and theta do not show connectivity between audiovisual areas. The authors postulate that while beta power correlations detect audiovisual integration in the current experimental context, it may not always be the best measure to detect connectivity. Instead, it is likely that the brain utilizes a variety of mechanisms in neuronal communication that may produce differential types of temporal relationships.

  15. Altered functional connectivity in lesional peduncular hallucinosis with REM sleep behavior disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Geddes, Maiya R; Tie, Yanmei; Gabrieli, John D E; McGinnis, Scott M; Golby, Alexandra J; Whitfield-Gabrieli, Susan

    2016-01-01

    Brainstem lesions causing peduncular hallucinosis (PH) produce vivid visual hallucinations occasionally accompanied by sleep disorders. Overlapping brainstem regions modulate visual pathways and REM sleep functions via gating of thalamocortical networks. A 66-year-old man with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation developed abrupt-onset complex visual hallucinations with preserved insight and violent dream enactment behavior. Brain MRI showed restricted diffusion in the left rostrodorsal pons suggestive of an acute ischemic stroke. REM sleep behavior disorder (RBD) was diagnosed on polysomnography. We investigated the integrity of ponto-geniculate-occipital circuits with seed-based resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) in this patient compared to 46 controls. Rs-fcMRI revealed significantly reduced functional connectivity between the lesion and lateral geniculate nuclei (LGN), and between LGN and visual association cortex compared to controls. Conversely, functional connectivity between brainstem and visual association cortex, and between visual association cortex and prefrontal cortex (PFC) was significantly increased in the patient. Focal damage to the rostrodorsal pons is sufficient to cause RBD and PH in humans, suggesting an overlapping mechanism in both syndromes. This lesion produced a pattern of altered functional connectivity consistent with disrupted visual cortex connectivity via de-afferentation of thalamocortical pathways. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Characterization of early cortical population response to thalamocortical input in vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael Raymond Heliodor Hill

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The in vitro thalamocortical slice preparation of mouse barrel cortex allows for stimulation of the cortex through its natural afferent thalamocortical pathway. This preparation was used here to investigate the first stage of cortical processing in the large postsynaptic dendritic networks as revealed by voltage sensitive dye imaging. We identified the precise location and dimensions of two clearly distinguishable dendritic networks, one in the granular layer IV and one in the infragranular layer V and VI and showed that they have different physiological properties. DiI fluorescent staining further revealed that thalamocortical axons project on to these two networks in the typical barrel like form, not only in the granular but also in the infragranular layer. Finally we investigated the short term dynamics of both the voltage sensitive dye imaging signal and the local field potential in response to a train of eight-pulses at various frequencies in both these layers. We found evidence of differences in the plasticity between the first two response peaks compared to the remaining six peaks as well as differences in short term plasticity between the voltage sensitive dye imaging response and the local field potential. Our findings suggest, that at least early cortical processing takes place in two separate dendritic networks that may stand at the beginning of further parallel computation. The detailed characterization of the parameters of these networks may provide tools for further research into the complex dynamics of large dendritic networks and their role in cortical computation.

  17. Neural Substrates of Auditory Emotion Recognition Deficits in Schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kantrowitz, Joshua T; Hoptman, Matthew J; Leitman, David I; Moreno-Ortega, Marta; Lehrfeld, Jonathan M; Dias, Elisa; Sehatpour, Pejman; Laukka, Petri; Silipo, Gail; Javitt, Daniel C

    2015-11-04

    Deficits in auditory emotion recognition (AER) are a core feature of schizophrenia and a key component of social cognitive impairment. AER deficits are tied behaviorally to impaired ability to interpret tonal ("prosodic") features of speech that normally convey emotion, such as modulations in base pitch (F0M) and pitch variability (F0SD). These modulations can be recreated using synthetic frequency modulated (FM) tones that mimic the prosodic contours of specific emotional stimuli. The present study investigates neural mechanisms underlying impaired AER using a combined event-related potential/resting-state functional connectivity (rsfMRI) approach in 84 schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder patients and 66 healthy comparison subjects. Mismatch negativity (MMN) to FM tones was assessed in 43 patients/36 controls. rsfMRI between auditory cortex and medial temporal (insula) regions was assessed in 55 patients/51 controls. The relationship between AER, MMN to FM tones, and rsfMRI was assessed in the subset who performed all assessments (14 patients, 21 controls). As predicted, patients showed robust reductions in MMN across FM stimulus type (p = 0.005), particularly to modulations in F0M, along with impairments in AER and FM tone discrimination. MMN source analysis indicated dipoles in both auditory cortex and anterior insula, whereas rsfMRI analyses showed reduced auditory-insula connectivity. MMN to FM tones and functional connectivity together accounted for ∼50% of the variance in AER performance across individuals. These findings demonstrate that impaired preattentive processing of tonal information and reduced auditory-insula connectivity are critical determinants of social cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia, and thus represent key targets for future research and clinical intervention. Schizophrenia patients show deficits in the ability to infer emotion based upon tone of voice [auditory emotion recognition (AER)] that drive impairments in social cognition

  18. Inhibitory Control in the Cortico-Basal Ganglia-Thalamocortical Loop: Complex Regulation and Interplay with Memory and Decision Processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Wei; Wang, Xiao-Jing

    2016-12-07

    We developed a circuit model of spiking neurons that includes multiple pathways in the basal ganglia (BG) and is endowed with feedback mechanisms at three levels: cortical microcircuit, corticothalamic loop, and cortico-BG-thalamocortical system. We focused on executive control in a stop signal task, which is known to depend on BG across species. The model reproduces a range of experimental observations and shows that the newly discovered feedback projection from external globus pallidus to striatum is crucial for inhibitory control. Moreover, stopping process is enhanced by the cortico-subcortical reverberatory dynamics underlying persistent activity, establishing interdependence between working memory and inhibitory control. Surprisingly, the stop signal reaction time (SSRT) can be adjusted by weights of certain connections but is insensitive to other connections in this complex circuit, suggesting novel circuit-based intervention for inhibitory control deficits associated with mental illness. Our model provides a unified framework for inhibitory control, decision making, and working memory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Functional connectivity measures after psilocybin inform a novel hypothesis of early psychosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carhart-Harris, Robin L; Leech, Robert; Erritzoe, David; Williams, Tim M; Stone, James M; Evans, John; Sharp, David J; Feilding, Amanda; Wise, Richard G; Nutt, David J

    2013-11-01

    Psilocybin is a classic psychedelic and a candidate drug model of psychosis. This study measured the effects of psilocybin on resting-state network and thalamocortical functional connectivity (FC) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Fifteen healthy volunteers received intravenous infusions of psilocybin and placebo in 2 task-free resting-state scans. Primary analyses focused on changes in FC between the default-mode- (DMN) and task-positive network (TPN). Spontaneous activity in the DMN is orthogonal to spontaneous activity in the TPN, and it is well known that these networks support very different functions (ie, the DMN supports introspection, whereas the TPN supports externally focused attention). Here, independent components and seed-based FC analyses revealed increased DMN-TPN FC and so decreased DMN-TPN orthogonality after psilocybin. Increased DMN-TPN FC has been found in psychosis and meditatory states, which share some phenomenological similarities with the psychedelic state. Increased DMN-TPN FC has also been observed in sedation, as has decreased thalamocortical FC, but here we found preserved thalamocortical FC after psilocybin. Thus, we propose that thalamocortical FC may be related to arousal, whereas DMN-TPN FC is related to the separateness of internally and externally focused states. We suggest that this orthogonality is compromised in early psychosis, explaining similarities between its phenomenology and that of the psychedelic state and supporting the utility of psilocybin as a model of early psychosis.

  20. Progressive thalamocortical neuron loss in Cln5 deficient mice: Distinct effects in Finnish variant late infantile NCL.

    Science.gov (United States)

    von Schantz, Carina; Kielar, Catherine; Hansen, Stine N; Pontikis, Charlie C; Alexander, Noreen A; Kopra, Outi; Jalanko, Anu; Cooper, Jonathan D

    2009-05-01

    Finnish variant LINCL (vLINCL(Fin)) is the result of mutations in the CLN5 gene. To gain insights into the pathological staging of this fatal pediatric disorder, we have undertaken a stereological analysis of the CNS of Cln5 deficient mice (Cln5-/-) at different stages of disease progression. Consistent with human vLINCL(Fin), these Cln5-/- mice displayed a relatively late onset regional atrophy and generalized cortical thinning and synaptic pathology, preceded by early and localized glial responses within the thalamocortical system. However, in marked contrast to other forms of NCL, neuron loss in Cln5-/- mice began in the cortex and only subsequently occurred within thalamic relay nuclei. Nevertheless, as in other NCL mouse models, this progressive thalamocortical neuron loss was still most pronounced within the visual system. These data provide unexpected evidence for a distinctive sequence of neuron loss in the thalamocortical system of Cln5-/- mice, diametrically opposed to that seen in other forms of NCL.

  1. Inward rectifier potassium current IKir promotes intrinsic pacemaker activity of thalamocortical neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amarillo, Yimy; Tissone, Angela I; Mato, Germán; Nadal, Marcela S

    2018-06-01

    Slow repetitive burst firing by hyperpolarized thalamocortical (TC) neurons correlates with global slow rhythms (rectifier potassium current I Kir induces repetitive burst firing at slow and delta frequency bands. We demonstrate this in mouse TC neurons in brain slices by manipulating the Kir maximum conductance with dynamic clamp. We also performed a thorough theoretical analysis that explains how the unique properties of I Kir enable this current to induce slow periodic bursting in TC neurons. We describe a new ionic mechanism based on the voltage- and time-dependent interaction of I Kir and hyperpolarization-activated cationic current I h that endows TC neurons with the ability to oscillate spontaneously at very low frequencies, even below 0.5 Hz. Bifurcation analysis of conductance-based models of increasing complexity demonstrates that I Kir induces bistability of the membrane potential at the same time that it induces sustained oscillations in combination with I h and increases the robustness of low threshold-activated calcium current I T -mediated oscillations. NEW & NOTEWORTHY The strong inwardly rectifying potassium current I Kir of thalamocortical neurons displays a region of negative slope conductance in the current-voltage relationship that generates potassium currents activated by hyperpolarization. Bifurcation analysis shows that I Kir induces bistability of the membrane potential; generates sustained subthreshold oscillations by interacting with the hyperpolarization-activated cationic current I h ; and increases the robustness of oscillations mediated by the low threshold-activated calcium current I T . Upregulation of I Kir in thalamocortical neurons induces repetitive burst firing at slow and delta frequency bands (<4 Hz).

  2. Diffusion tractography of the subcortical auditory system in a postmortem human brain

    OpenAIRE

    Sitek, Kevin

    2017-01-01

    The subcortical auditory system is challenging to identify with standard human brain imaging techniques: MRI signal decreases toward the center of the brain as well as at higher resolution, both of which are necessary for imaging small brainstem auditory structures.Using high-resolution diffusion-weighted MRI, we asked:Can we identify auditory structures and connections in high-resolution ex vivo images?Which structures and connections can be mapped in vivo?

  3. Decreased middle temporal gyrus connectivity in the language network in schizophrenia patients with auditory verbal hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Linchuan; Li, Baojuan; Wang, Huaning; Li, Liang; Liao, Qimei; Liu, Yang; Bao, Xianghong; Liu, Wenlei; Yin, Hong; Lu, Hongbing; Tan, Qingrong

    2017-07-13

    As the most common symptoms of schizophrenia, the long-term persistence of obstinate auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs) brings about great mental pain to patients. Neuroimaging studies of schizophrenia have indicated that AVHs were associated with altered functional and structural connectivity within the language network. However, effective connectivity that could reflect directed information flow within this network and is of great importance to understand the neural mechanisms of the disorder remains largely unknown. In this study, we utilized stochastic dynamic causal modeling (DCM) to investigate directed connections within the language network in schizophrenia patients with and without AVHs. Thirty-six patients with schizophrenia (18 with AVHs and 18 without AVHs), and 37 healthy controls participated in the current resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study. The results showed that the connection from the left inferior frontal gyrus (LIFG) to left middle temporal gyrus (LMTG) was significantly decreased in patients with AVHs compared to those without AVHs. Meanwhile, the effective connection from the left inferior parietal lobule (LIPL) to LMTG was significantly decreased compared to the healthy controls. Our findings suggest aberrant pattern of causal interactions within the language network in patients with AVHs, indicating that the hypoconnectivity or disrupted connection from frontal to temporal speech areas might be critical for the pathological basis of AVHs. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. Interhemispheric connectivity influences the degree of modulation of TMS-induced effects during auditory processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jamila eAndoh

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Repetitive TMS (rTMS has been shown to interfere with many components of language processing, including semantic, syntactic and phonologic. However, not much is known about its effects on primary auditory processing, especially its action on Heschl’s gyrus (HG. We aimed to investigate the behavioural and neural basis of rTMS during a melody processing task, while targeting the left HG, the right HG and the Vertex as a control site. Response Times (RT were normalized relative to the baseline-rTMS (Vertex and expressed as percentage change from baseline (%RT change. We also looked at sex differences in rTMS-induced response as well as in functional connectivity during melody processing using rTMS and functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI.Functional MRI results showed an increase in the right HG compared with the left HG during the melody task, as well as sex differences in functional connectivity indicating a greater interhemispheric connectivity between left and right HG in females compared with males. TMS results showed that 10Hz-rTMS targeting the right HG induced differential effects according to sex, with a facilitation of performance in females and an impairment of performance in males. We also found a differential correlation between the %RT change after 10Hz-rTMS targeting the right HG and the interhemispheric functional connectivity between right and left HG, indicating that an increase in interhemispheric functional connectivity was associated with a facilitation of performance. This is the first study to report a differential rTMS-induced interference with melody processing depending on sex. In addition, we showed a relationship between the interference induced by rTMS on behavioral performance and the neural activity in the network connecting left and right HG, suggesting that the interhemispheric functional connectivity could determine the degree of modulation of behavioral performance.

  5. Thalamocortical Oscillations in the Sleeping and Aroused Brain

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steriade, Mircea; McCormick, David A.; Sejnowski, Terrence J.

    1993-10-01

    Sleep is characterized by synchronized events in billions of synaptically coupled neurons in thalamocortical systems. The activation of a series of neuromodulatory transmitter systems during awakening blocks low-frequency oscillations, induces fast rhythms, and allows the brain to recover full responsiveness. Analysis of cortical and thalamic networks at many levels, from molecules to single neurons to large neuronal assemblies, with a variety of techniques, ranging from intracellular recordings in vivo and in vitro to computer simulations, is beginning to yield insights into the mechanisms of the generation, modulation, and function of brain oscillations.

  6. Modafinil enhances thalamocortical activity by increasing neuronal electrotonic coupling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urbano, Francisco J.; Leznik, Elena; Llinás, Rodolfo R.

    2007-01-01

    Modafinil (Provigil, Modiodal), an antinarcoleptic and mood-enhancing drug, is shown here to sharpen thalamocortical activity and to increase electrical coupling between cortical interneurons and between nerve cells in the inferior olivary nucleus. After irreversible pharmacological block of connexin permeability (i.e., by using either 18β-glycyrrhetinic derivatives or mefloquine), modafinil restored electrotonic coupling within 30 min. It was further established that this restoration is implemented through a Ca2+/calmodulin protein kinase II-dependent step. PMID:17640897

  7. 3D atlas of brain connections and functional circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Jinghong; Nowinski, Wieslaw L.; Fock, Loe K.; Dow, Douglas E.; Chuan, Teh H.

    1997-05-01

    This work aims at the construction of an extendable brain atlas system which contains: (i) 3D models of cortical and subcortical structures along with their connections; (ii) visualization and exploration tools; and (iii) structures and connections editors. A 3D version of the Talairach- Tournoux brain atlas along with 3D Brodmann's areas are developed, co-registered, and placed in the Talairach stereotactic space. The initial built-in connections are thalamocortical ones. The structures and connections editors are provided to allow the user to add and modify cerebral structures and connections. Visualization and explorations tools are developed with four ways of exploring the brain connections model: composition, interrogation, navigation and diagnostic queries. The atlas is designed as an open system which can be extended independently in other centers according to their needs and discoveries.

  8. Further Evidence of Auditory Extinction in Aphasia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marshall, Rebecca Shisler; Basilakos, Alexandra; Love-Myers, Kim

    2013-01-01

    Purpose: Preliminary research ( Shisler, 2005) suggests that auditory extinction in individuals with aphasia (IWA) may be connected to binding and attention. In this study, the authors expanded on previous findings on auditory extinction to determine the source of extinction deficits in IWA. Method: Seventeen IWA (M[subscript age] = 53.19 years)…

  9. The right hemisphere supports but does not replace left hemisphere auditory function in patients with persisting aphasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Teki, Sundeep; Barnes, Gareth R; Penny, William D; Iverson, Paul; Woodhead, Zoe V J; Griffiths, Timothy D; Leff, Alexander P

    2013-06-01

    In this study, we used magnetoencephalography and a mismatch paradigm to investigate speech processing in stroke patients with auditory comprehension deficits and age-matched control subjects. We probed connectivity within and between the two temporal lobes in response to phonemic (different word) and acoustic (same word) oddballs using dynamic causal modelling. We found stronger modulation of self-connections as a function of phonemic differences for control subjects versus aphasics in left primary auditory cortex and bilateral superior temporal gyrus. The patients showed stronger modulation of connections from right primary auditory cortex to right superior temporal gyrus (feed-forward) and from left primary auditory cortex to right primary auditory cortex (interhemispheric). This differential connectivity can be explained on the basis of a predictive coding theory which suggests increased prediction error and decreased sensitivity to phonemic boundaries in the aphasics' speech network in both hemispheres. Within the aphasics, we also found behavioural correlates with connection strengths: a negative correlation between phonemic perception and an inter-hemispheric connection (left superior temporal gyrus to right superior temporal gyrus), and positive correlation between semantic performance and a feedback connection (right superior temporal gyrus to right primary auditory cortex). Our results suggest that aphasics with impaired speech comprehension have less veridical speech representations in both temporal lobes, and rely more on the right hemisphere auditory regions, particularly right superior temporal gyrus, for processing speech. Despite this presumed compensatory shift in network connectivity, the patients remain significantly impaired.

  10. Altered thalamo-cortical resting state functional connectivity in smokers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Chaoyan; Bai, Jie; Wang, Caihong; von Deneen, Karen M; Yuan, Kai; Cheng, Jingliang

    2017-07-13

    The thalamus has widespread connections with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and modulates communication between the striatum and PFC, which is crucial to the neural mechanisms of smoking. However, relatively few studies focused on the thalamic resting state functional connectivity (RSFC) patterns and their association with smoking behaviors in smokers. 24 young male smokers and 24 non-smokers were enrolled in our study. Fagerström Test for Nicotine Dependence (FTND) was used to assess the nicotine dependence level. The bilateral thalamic RSFC patterns were compared between smokers and non-smokers. The relationship between neuroimaging findings and smoking behaviors (FTND and pack-years) were also investigated in smokers. Relative to nonsmokers, smokers showed reduced RSFC strength between the left thalamus and several brain regions, i.e. the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (dlPFC), the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the bilateral caudate. In addition, the right thalamus showed reduced RSFC with the right dlPFC as well as the bilateral insula in smokers. Therefore, the findings in the current study revealed the reduced RSFC of the thalamus with the dlPFC, the ACC, the insula and the caudate in smokers, which provided new insights into the roles of the thalamus in nicotine addiction from a function integration perspective. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Role of inhibitory feedback for information processing in thalamocortical circuits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mayer, Joerg; Schuster, Heinz Georg; Claussen, Jens Christian

    2006-01-01

    The information transfer in the thalamus is blocked dynamically during sleep, in conjunction with the occurrence of spindle waves. In order to describe the dynamic mechanisms which control the sensory transfer of information, it is necessary to have a qualitative model for the response properties of thalamic neurons. As the theoretical understanding of the mechanism remains incomplete, we analyze two modeling approaches for a recent experiment by Le Masson et al. [Nature (London) 417, 854 (2002)] on the thalamocortical loop. We use a conductance based model in order to motivate an extension of the Hindmarsh-Rose model, which mimics experimental observations of Le Masson et al. Typically, thalamic neurons posses two different firing modes, depending on their membrane potential. At depolarized potentials, the cells fire in a single spike mode and relay synaptic inputs in a one-to-one manner to the cortex. If the cell gets hyperpolarized, T-type calcium currents generate burst-mode firing which leads to a decrease in the spike transfer. In thalamocortical circuits, the cell membrane gets hyperpolarized by recurrent inhibitory feedback loops. In the case of reciprocally coupled excitatory and inhibitory neurons, inhibitory feedback leads to metastable self-sustained oscillations, which mask the incoming input, and thereby reduce the information transfer significantly

  12. Dynamic functional connectivity analysis reveals transient states of dysconnectivity in schizophrenia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E. Damaraju

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder characterized by functional dysconnectivity or abnormal integration between distant brain regions. Recent functional imaging studies have implicated large-scale thalamo-cortical connectivity as being disrupted in patients. However, observed connectivity differences in schizophrenia have been inconsistent between studies, with reports of hyperconnectivity and hypoconnectivity between the same brain regions. Using resting state eyes-closed functional imaging and independent component analysis on a multi-site data that included 151 schizophrenia patients and 163 age- and gender matched healthy controls, we decomposed the functional brain data into 100 components and identified 47 as functionally relevant intrinsic connectivity networks. We subsequently evaluated group differences in functional network connectivity, both in a static sense, computed as the pairwise Pearson correlations between the full network time courses (5.4 minutes in length, and a dynamic sense, computed using sliding windows (44 s in length and k-means clustering to characterize five discrete functional connectivity states. Static connectivity analysis revealed that compared to healthy controls, patients show significantly stronger connectivity, i.e., hyperconnectivity, between the thalamus and sensory networks (auditory, motor and visual, as well as reduced connectivity (hypoconnectivity between sensory networks from all modalities. Dynamic analysis suggests that (1, on average, schizophrenia patients spend much less time than healthy controls in states typified by strong, large-scale connectivity, and (2, that abnormal connectivity patterns are more pronounced during these connectivity states. In particular, states exhibiting cortical–subcortical antagonism (anti-correlations and strong positive connectivity between sensory networks are those that show the group differences of thalamic hyperconnectivity and sensory hypoconnectivity

  13. Disrupted Thalamus White Matter Anatomy and Posterior Default Mode Network Effective Connectivity in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thomas Alderson

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Alzheimer’s disease (AD and its prodromal state amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI are characterized by widespread abnormalities in inter-areal white matter fiber pathways and parallel disruption of default mode network (DMN resting state functional and effective connectivity. In healthy subjects, DMN and task positive network interaction are modulated by the thalamus suggesting that abnormal task-based DMN deactivation in aMCI may be a consequence of impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry. Thus, this article uses a multimodal approach to assess white matter integrity between thalamus and DMN components and associated effective connectivity in healthy controls (HCs relative to aMCI patients. Twenty-six HC and 20 older adults with aMCI underwent structural, functional and diffusion MRI scanning using the high angular resolution diffusion-weighted acquisition protocol. The DMN of each subject was identified using independent component analysis (ICA and resting state effective connectivity was calculated between thalamus and DMN nodes. White matter integrity changes between thalamus and DMN were investigated with constrained spherical deconvolution (CSD tractography. Significant structural deficits in thalamic white matter projection fibers to posterior DMN components posterior cingulate cortex (PCC and lateral inferior parietal lobe (IPL were identified together with significantly reduced effective connectivity from left thalamus to left IPL. Crucially, impaired thalamo-cortical white matter circuitry correlated with memory performance. Disrupted thalamo-cortical structure was accompanied by significant reductions in IPL and PCC cortico-cortical effective connectivity. No structural deficits were found between DMN nodes. Abnormal posterior DMN activity may be driven by changes in thalamic white matter connectivity; a view supported by the close anatomical and functional association of thalamic nuclei effected by AD pathology and

  14. Plasticity-Related Gene 1 Affects Mouse Barrel Cortex Function via Strengthening of Glutamatergic Thalamocortical Transmission.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Unichenko, Petr; Kirischuk, Sergei; Yang, Jenq-Wei; Baumgart, Jan; Roskoden, Thomas; Schneider, Patrick; Sommer, Angela; Horta, Guilherme; Radyushkin, Konstantin; Nitsch, Robert; Vogt, Johannes; Luhmann, Heiko J

    2016-07-01

    Plasticity-related gene-1 (PRG-1) is a brain-specific protein that modulates glutamatergic synaptic transmission. Here we investigated the functional role of PRG-1 in adolescent and adult mouse barrel cortex both in vitro and in vivo. Compared with wild-type (WT) animals, PRG-1-deficient (KO) mice showed specific behavioral deficits in tests assessing sensorimotor integration and whisker-based sensory discrimination as shown in the beam balance/walking test and sandpaper tactile discrimination test, respectively. At P25-31, spontaneous network activity in the barrel cortex in vivo was higher in KO mice compared with WT littermates, but not at P16-19. At P16-19, sensory evoked cortical responses in vivo elicited by single whisker stimulation were comparable in KO and WT mice. In contrast, at P25-31 evoked responses were smaller in amplitude and longer in duration in WT animals, whereas KO mice revealed no such developmental changes. In thalamocortical slices from KO mice, spontaneous activity was increased already at P16-19, and glutamatergic thalamocortical inputs to Layer 4 spiny stellate neurons were potentiated. We conclude that genetic ablation of PRG-1 modulates already at P16-19 spontaneous and evoked excitability of the barrel cortex, including enhancement of thalamocortical glutamatergic inputs to Layer 4, which distorts sensory processing in adulthood. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

  15. Auditory attention activates peripheral visual cortex.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anthony D Cate

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Recent neuroimaging studies have revealed that putatively unimodal regions of visual cortex can be activated during auditory tasks in sighted as well as in blind subjects. However, the task determinants and functional significance of auditory occipital activations (AOAs remains unclear. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We examined AOAs in an intermodal selective attention task to distinguish whether they were stimulus-bound or recruited by higher-level cognitive operations associated with auditory attention. Cortical surface mapping showed that auditory occipital activations were localized to retinotopic visual cortex subserving the far peripheral visual field. AOAs depended strictly on the sustained engagement of auditory attention and were enhanced in more difficult listening conditions. In contrast, unattended sounds produced no AOAs regardless of their intensity, spatial location, or frequency. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Auditory attention, but not passive exposure to sounds, routinely activated peripheral regions of visual cortex when subjects attended to sound sources outside the visual field. Functional connections between auditory cortex and visual cortex subserving the peripheral visual field appear to underlie the generation of AOAs, which may reflect the priming of visual regions to process soon-to-appear objects associated with unseen sound sources.

  16. Hierarchical processing of auditory objects in humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sukhbinder Kumar

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available This work examines the computational architecture used by the brain during the analysis of the spectral envelope of sounds, an important acoustic feature for defining auditory objects. Dynamic causal modelling and Bayesian model selection were used to evaluate a family of 16 network models explaining functional magnetic resonance imaging responses in the right temporal lobe during spectral envelope analysis. The models encode different hypotheses about the effective connectivity between Heschl's Gyrus (HG, containing the primary auditory cortex, planum temporale (PT, and superior temporal sulcus (STS, and the modulation of that coupling during spectral envelope analysis. In particular, we aimed to determine whether information processing during spectral envelope analysis takes place in a serial or parallel fashion. The analysis provides strong support for a serial architecture with connections from HG to PT and from PT to STS and an increase of the HG to PT connection during spectral envelope analysis. The work supports a computational model of auditory object processing, based on the abstraction of spectro-temporal "templates" in the PT before further analysis of the abstracted form in anterior temporal lobe areas.

  17. Auditory motion in the sighted and blind: Early visual deprivation triggers a large-scale imbalance between auditory and "visual" brain regions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dormal, Giulia; Rezk, Mohamed; Yakobov, Esther; Lepore, Franco; Collignon, Olivier

    2016-07-01

    How early blindness reorganizes the brain circuitry that supports auditory motion processing remains controversial. We used fMRI to characterize brain responses to in-depth, laterally moving, and static sounds in early blind and sighted individuals. Whole-brain univariate analyses revealed that the right posterior middle temporal gyrus and superior occipital gyrus selectively responded to both in-depth and laterally moving sounds only in the blind. These regions overlapped with regions selective for visual motion (hMT+/V5 and V3A) that were independently localized in the sighted. In the early blind, the right planum temporale showed enhanced functional connectivity with right occipito-temporal regions during auditory motion processing and a concomitant reduced functional connectivity with parietal and frontal regions. Whole-brain searchlight multivariate analyses demonstrated higher auditory motion decoding in the right posterior middle temporal gyrus in the blind compared to the sighted, while decoding accuracy was enhanced in the auditory cortex bilaterally in the sighted compared to the blind. Analyses targeting individually defined visual area hMT+/V5 however indicated that auditory motion information could be reliably decoded within this area even in the sighted group. Taken together, the present findings demonstrate that early visual deprivation triggers a large-scale imbalance between auditory and "visual" brain regions that typically support the processing of motion information. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  18. Both volumetry and functional connectivity of Heschl's gyrus are associated with auditory P300 in first episode schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Qian; Tang, Yingying; Li, Hui; Zhang, Tianhong; Li, Jianqi; Sheng, Jianhua; Liu, Dengtang; Li, Chunbo; Wang, Jijun

    2014-12-01

    Reduced gray matter volume in left superior temporal gyrus (STG) is considered to be associated with auditory P300 amplitude in schizophrenia. Little is known about possible pathological circuits regarding sub-regions of STG that contribute to auditory P300 abnormality in schizophrenia. The current study investigated gray matter volume in STG and functional connectivity of Heschl's gyrus in first-episode schizophrenia (FESZ), as well as their correlations with P300 amplitude. Nineteen FESZ patients and 19 healthy controls contributed MRI scans. Eighteen patients and 17 controls underwent auditory P300 test within 1 week after MRI scanning. STG structural abnormalities were analyzed using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) analysis. Bilateral Heschl's gyri (HG) were selected as seeds for FC analysis in resting MRI data. Correlations of P300 amplitude with gray matter alterations in STG and HG-based FC were analyzed using Pearson correlation analysis within each group. Compared to healthy controls, FESZ patients showed reduced gray matter in left STG and P300 amplitude. Gray matter volume of left Heschl's gyrus was positively correlated with P300 amplitude in FESZ patients. HG-based FC of resting fMRI was decreased in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), medial frontal gyrus (MFG), anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), and left temporal pole, whereas the same metric was increased in the lingual gyrus, precuneus and cerebellar tonsil among FESZ patients. FC between bilateral HG and precuneus was inversely correlated with P300 amplitude among healthy controls, and was absent among FES patients. The findings point towards both decreased volume of Heschl's gyrus and its altered functional pathways may contribute to auditory P300 abnormality in schizophrenia. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Thalamocortical control of feed-forward inhibition in awake somatosensory 'barrel' cortex.

    OpenAIRE

    Swadlow, Harvey A

    2002-01-01

    Intracortical inhibition plays a role in shaping sensory cortical receptive fields and is mediated by both feed-forward and feedback mechanisms. Feed-forward inhibition is the faster of the two processes, being generated by inhibitory interneurons driven by monosynaptic thalamocortical (TC) input. In principle, feed-forward inhibition can prevent targeted cortical neurons from ever reaching threshold when TC input is weak. To do so, however, inhibitory interneurons must respond to TC input at...

  20. Anatomy, Physiology and Function of the Auditory System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kollmeier, Birger

    The human ear consists of the outer ear (pinna or concha, outer ear canal, tympanic membrane), the middle ear (middle ear cavity with the three ossicles malleus, incus and stapes) and the inner ear (cochlea which is connected to the three semicircular canals by the vestibule, which provides the sense of balance). The cochlea is connected to the brain stem via the eighth brain nerve, i.e. the vestibular cochlear nerve or nervus statoacusticus. Subsequently, the acoustical information is processed by the brain at various levels of the auditory system. An overview about the anatomy of the auditory system is provided by Figure 1.

  1. Migration Pathways of Thalamic Neurons and Development of Thalamocortical Connections in Humans Revealed by Diffusion MR Tractography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilkinson, Molly; Kane, Tara; Wang, Rongpin; Takahashi, Emi

    2017-12-01

    The thalamus plays an important role in signal relays in the brain, with thalamocortical (TC) neuronal pathways linked to various sensory/cognitive functions. In this study, we aimed to see fetal and postnatal development of the thalamus including neuronal migration to the thalamus and the emergence/maturation of the TC pathways. Pathways from/to the thalami of human postmortem fetuses and in vivo subjects ranging from newborns to adults with no neurological histories were studied using high angular resolution diffusion MR imaging (HARDI) tractography. Pathways likely linked to neuronal migration from the ventricular zone and ganglionic eminence (GE) to the thalami were both successfully detected. Between the ventricular zone and thalami, more tractography pathways were found in anterior compared with posterior regions, which was well in agreement with postnatal observations that the anterior TC segment had more tract count and volume than the posterior segment. Three different pathways likely linked to neuronal migration from the GE to the thalami were detected. No hemispheric asymmetry of the TC pathways was quantitatively observed during development. These results suggest that HARDI tractography is useful to identify multiple differential neuronal migration pathways in human brains, and regional differences in brain development in fetal ages persisted in postnatal development. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  2. Temporal envelope processing in the human auditory cortex: response and interconnections of auditory cortical areas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gourévitch, Boris; Le Bouquin Jeannès, Régine; Faucon, Gérard; Liégeois-Chauvel, Catherine

    2008-03-01

    Temporal envelope processing in the human auditory cortex has an important role in language analysis. In this paper, depth recordings of local field potentials in response to amplitude modulated white noises were used to design maps of activation in primary, secondary and associative auditory areas and to study the propagation of the cortical activity between them. The comparison of activations between auditory areas was based on a signal-to-noise ratio associated with the response to amplitude modulation (AM). The functional connectivity between cortical areas was quantified by the directed coherence (DCOH) applied to auditory evoked potentials. This study shows the following reproducible results on twenty subjects: (1) the primary auditory cortex (PAC), the secondary cortices (secondary auditory cortex (SAC) and planum temporale (PT)), the insular gyrus, the Brodmann area (BA) 22 and the posterior part of T1 gyrus (T1Post) respond to AM in both hemispheres. (2) A stronger response to AM was observed in SAC and T1Post of the left hemisphere independent of the modulation frequency (MF), and in the left BA22 for MFs 8 and 16Hz, compared to those in the right. (3) The activation and propagation features emphasized at least four different types of temporal processing. (4) A sequential activation of PAC, SAC and BA22 areas was clearly visible at all MFs, while other auditory areas may be more involved in parallel processing upon a stream originating from primary auditory area, which thus acts as a distribution hub. These results suggest that different psychological information is carried by the temporal envelope of sounds relative to the rate of amplitude modulation.

  3. A model of microsaccade-related neural responses induced by short-term depression in thalamocortical synapses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wujie eYuan

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available Microsaccades during fixation have been suggested to counteract visual fading. Recent experi- ments have also observed microsaccade-related neural responses from cellular record, scalp elec- troencephalogram (EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. The underlying mechanism, however, is not yet understood and highly debated. It has been proposed that the neural activity of primary visual cortex (V1 is a crucial component for counteracting visual adaptation. In this paper, we use computational modeling to investigate how short-term depres- sion (STD in thalamocortical synapses might affect the neural responses of V1 in the presence of microsaccades. Our model not only gives a possible synaptic explanation for microsaccades in counteracting visual fading, but also reproduces several features in experimental findings. These modeling results suggest that STD in thalamocortical synapses plays an important role in microsaccade-related neural responses and the model may be useful for further investigation of behavioral properties and functional roles of microsaccades.

  4. A model of microsaccade-related neural responses induced by short-term depression in thalamocortical synapses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Wu-Jie; Dimigen, Olaf; Sommer, Werner; Zhou, Changsong

    2013-01-01

    Microsaccades during fixation have been suggested to counteract visual fading. Recent experiments have also observed microsaccade-related neural responses from cellular record, scalp electroencephalogram (EEG), and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The underlying mechanism, however, is not yet understood and highly debated. It has been proposed that the neural activity of primary visual cortex (V1) is a crucial component for counteracting visual adaptation. In this paper, we use computational modeling to investigate how short-term depression (STD) in thalamocortical synapses might affect the neural responses of V1 in the presence of microsaccades. Our model not only gives a possible synaptic explanation for microsaccades in counteracting visual fading, but also reproduces several features in experimental findings. These modeling results suggest that STD in thalamocortical synapses plays an important role in microsaccade-related neural responses and the model may be useful for further investigation of behavioral properties and functional roles of microsaccades. PMID:23630494

  5. Altered auditory processing and effective connectivity in 22q11.2 deletion syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Kit Melissa; Mørup, Morten; Birknow, Michelle Rosgaard; Fischer, Elvira; Hulme, Oliver; Vangkilde, Anders; Schmock, Henriette; Baaré, William Frans Christiaan; Didriksen, Michael; Olsen, Line; Werge, Thomas; Siebner, Hartwig R; Garrido, Marta I

    2018-01-30

    22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11.2DS) is one of the most common copy number variants and confers a markedly increased risk for schizophrenia. As such, 22q11.2DS is a homogeneous genetic liability model which enables studies to delineate functional abnormalities that may precede disease onset. Mismatch negativity (MMN), a brain marker of change detection, is reduced in people with schizophrenia compared to healthy controls. Using dynamic causal modelling (DCM), previous studies showed that top-down effective connectivity linking the frontal and temporal cortex is reduced in schizophrenia relative to healthy controls in MMN tasks. In the search for early risk-markers for schizophrenia we investigated the neural basis of change detection in a group with 22q11.2DS. We recorded high-density EEG from 19 young non-psychotic 22q11.2 deletion carriers, as well as from 27 healthy non-carriers with comparable age distribution and sex ratio, while they listened to a sequence of sounds arranged in a roving oddball paradigm. Despite finding no significant reduction in the MMN responses, whole-scalp spatiotemporal analysis of responses to the tones revealed a greater fronto-temporal N1 component in the 22q11.2 deletion carriers. DCM showed reduced intrinsic connection within right primary auditory cortex as well as in the top-down, connection from the right inferior frontal gyrus to right superior temporal gyrus for 22q11.2 deletion carriers although not surviving correction for multiple comparison. We discuss these findings in terms of reduced adaptation and a general increased sensitivity to tones in 22q11.2DS. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  6. Auditory cortex involvement in emotional learning and memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grosso, A; Cambiaghi, M; Concina, G; Sacco, T; Sacchetti, B

    2015-07-23

    Emotional memories represent the core of human and animal life and drive future choices and behaviors. Early research involving brain lesion studies in animals lead to the idea that the auditory cortex participates in emotional learning by processing the sensory features of auditory stimuli paired with emotional consequences and by transmitting this information to the amygdala. Nevertheless, electrophysiological and imaging studies revealed that, following emotional experiences, the auditory cortex undergoes learning-induced changes that are highly specific, associative and long lasting. These studies suggested that the role played by the auditory cortex goes beyond stimulus elaboration and transmission. Here, we discuss three major perspectives created by these data. In particular, we analyze the possible roles of the auditory cortex in emotional learning, we examine the recruitment of the auditory cortex during early and late memory trace encoding, and finally we consider the functional interplay between the auditory cortex and subcortical nuclei, such as the amygdala, that process affective information. We conclude that, starting from the early phase of memory encoding, the auditory cortex has a more prominent role in emotional learning, through its connections with subcortical nuclei, than is typically acknowledged. Copyright © 2015 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  7. Hierarchical auditory processing directed rostrally along the monkey's supratemporal plane.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kikuchi, Yukiko; Horwitz, Barry; Mishkin, Mortimer

    2010-09-29

    Connectional anatomical evidence suggests that the auditory core, containing the tonotopic areas A1, R, and RT, constitutes the first stage of auditory cortical processing, with feedforward projections from core outward, first to the surrounding auditory belt and then to the parabelt. Connectional evidence also raises the possibility that the core itself is serially organized, with feedforward projections from A1 to R and with additional projections, although of unknown feed direction, from R to RT. We hypothesized that area RT together with more rostral parts of the supratemporal plane (rSTP) form the anterior extension of a rostrally directed stimulus quality processing stream originating in the auditory core area A1. Here, we analyzed auditory responses of single neurons in three different sectors distributed caudorostrally along the supratemporal plane (STP): sector I, mainly area A1; sector II, mainly area RT; and sector III, principally RTp (the rostrotemporal polar area), including cortex located 3 mm from the temporal tip. Mean onset latency of excitation responses and stimulus selectivity to monkey calls and other sounds, both simple and complex, increased progressively from sector I to III. Also, whereas cells in sector I responded with significantly higher firing rates to the "other" sounds than to monkey calls, those in sectors II and III responded at the same rate to both stimulus types. The pattern of results supports the proposal that the STP contains a rostrally directed, hierarchically organized auditory processing stream, with gradually increasing stimulus selectivity, and that this stream extends from the primary auditory area to the temporal pole.

  8. Slits Are Chemorepellents Endogenous to Hypothalamus and Steer Thalamocortical Axons into Ventral Telencephalon

    OpenAIRE

    Braisted, Janet E.; Ringstedt, Thomas; O'Leary, Dennis D. M.

    2009-01-01

    Thalamocortical axons (TCAs) originate in dorsal thalamus, extend ventrally along the lateral thalamic surface, and as they approach hypothalamus make a lateral turn into ventral telencephalon. In vitro studies show that hypothalamus releases a chemorepellent for TCAs, and analyses of knockout mice indicate that Slit chemorepellents and their receptor Robo2 influence TCA pathfinding. We show that Slit chemorepellents are the hypothalamic chemorepellent and act through Robos to steer TCAs into...

  9. Resting state functional MRI in Parkinson's disease: the impact of deep brain stimulation on 'effective' connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kahan, Joshua; Urner, Maren; Moran, Rosalyn; Flandin, Guillaume; Marreiros, Andre; Mancini, Laura; White, Mark; Thornton, John; Yousry, Tarek; Zrinzo, Ludvic; Hariz, Marwan; Limousin, Patricia; Friston, Karl; Foltynie, Tom

    2014-04-01

    Depleted of dopamine, the dynamics of the parkinsonian brain impact on both 'action' and 'resting' motor behaviour. Deep brain stimulation has become an established means of managing these symptoms, although its mechanisms of action remain unclear. Non-invasive characterizations of induced brain responses, and the effective connectivity underlying them, generally appeals to dynamic causal modelling of neuroimaging data. When the brain is at rest, however, this sort of characterization has been limited to correlations (functional connectivity). In this work, we model the 'effective' connectivity underlying low frequency blood oxygen level-dependent fluctuations in the resting Parkinsonian motor network-disclosing the distributed effects of deep brain stimulation on cortico-subcortical connections. Specifically, we show that subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation modulates all the major components of the motor cortico-striato-thalamo-cortical loop, including the cortico-striatal, thalamo-cortical, direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways, and the hyperdirect subthalamic nucleus projections. The strength of effective subthalamic nucleus afferents and efferents were reduced by stimulation, whereas cortico-striatal, thalamo-cortical and direct pathways were strengthened. Remarkably, regression analysis revealed that the hyperdirect, direct, and basal ganglia afferents to the subthalamic nucleus predicted clinical status and therapeutic response to deep brain stimulation; however, suppression of the sensitivity of the subthalamic nucleus to its hyperdirect afferents by deep brain stimulation may subvert the clinical efficacy of deep brain stimulation. Our findings highlight the distributed effects of stimulation on the resting motor network and provide a framework for analysing effective connectivity in resting state functional MRI with strong a priori hypotheses.

  10. The auditory cortex hosts network nodes influential for emotion processing: An fMRI study on music-evoked fear and joy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koelsch, Stefan; Skouras, Stavros; Lohmann, Gabriele

    2018-01-01

    Sound is a potent elicitor of emotions. Auditory core, belt and parabelt regions have anatomical connections to a large array of limbic and paralimbic structures which are involved in the generation of affective activity. However, little is known about the functional role of auditory cortical regions in emotion processing. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging and music stimuli that evoke joy or fear, our study reveals that anterior and posterior regions of auditory association cortex have emotion-characteristic functional connectivity with limbic/paralimbic (insula, cingulate cortex, and striatum), somatosensory, visual, motor-related, and attentional structures. We found that these regions have remarkably high emotion-characteristic eigenvector centrality, revealing that they have influential positions within emotion-processing brain networks with "small-world" properties. By contrast, primary auditory fields showed surprisingly strong emotion-characteristic functional connectivity with intra-auditory regions. Our findings demonstrate that the auditory cortex hosts regions that are influential within networks underlying the affective processing of auditory information. We anticipate our results to incite research specifying the role of the auditory cortex-and sensory systems in general-in emotion processing, beyond the traditional view that sensory cortices have merely perceptual functions.

  11. Frequency-selectivity of a thalamocortical relay neuron during Parkinson's disease and deep brain stimulation: a computational study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Cagnan, Hayriye; Cagnan, H.; Meijer, Hil Gaétan Ellart; van Gils, Stephanus A.; Krupa, M.; Heida, Tjitske; Rudolph, Michelle; Wadman, Wyse J.; Martens, Hubert C.F.

    2009-01-01

    In this computational study, we investigated (i) the functional importance of correlated basal ganglia (BG) activity associated with Parkinson's disease (PD) motor symptoms by analysing the effects of globus pallidus internum (GPi) bursting frequency and synchrony on a thalamocortical (TC) relay

  12. Auditory-motor learning influences auditory memory for music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Rachel M; Palmer, Caroline

    2012-05-01

    In two experiments, we investigated how auditory-motor learning influences performers' memory for music. Skilled pianists learned novel melodies in four conditions: auditory only (listening), motor only (performing without sound), strongly coupled auditory-motor (normal performance), and weakly coupled auditory-motor (performing along with auditory recordings). Pianists' recognition of the learned melodies was better following auditory-only or auditory-motor (weakly coupled and strongly coupled) learning than following motor-only learning, and better following strongly coupled auditory-motor learning than following auditory-only learning. Auditory and motor imagery abilities modulated the learning effects: Pianists with high auditory imagery scores had better recognition following motor-only learning, suggesting that auditory imagery compensated for missing auditory feedback at the learning stage. Experiment 2 replicated the findings of Experiment 1 with melodies that contained greater variation in acoustic features. Melodies that were slower and less variable in tempo and intensity were remembered better following weakly coupled auditory-motor learning. These findings suggest that motor learning can aid performers' auditory recognition of music beyond auditory learning alone, and that motor learning is influenced by individual abilities in mental imagery and by variation in acoustic features.

  13. Specialized prefrontal auditory fields: organization of primate prefrontal-temporal pathways

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maria eMedalla

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available No other modality is more frequently represented in the prefrontal cortex than the auditory, but the role of auditory information in prefrontal functions is not well understood. Pathways from auditory association cortices reach distinct sites in the lateral, orbital, and medial surfaces of the prefrontal cortex in rhesus monkeys. Among prefrontal areas, frontopolar area 10 has the densest interconnections with auditory association areas, spanning a large antero-posterior extent of the superior temporal gyrus from the temporal pole to auditory parabelt and belt regions. Moreover, auditory pathways make up the largest component of the extrinsic connections of area 10, suggesting a special relationship with the auditory modality. Here we review anatomic evidence showing that frontopolar area 10 is indeed the main frontal auditory field as the major recipient of auditory input in the frontal lobe and chief source of output to auditory cortices. Area 10 is thought to be the functional node for the most complex cognitive tasks of multitasking and keeping track of information for future decisions. These patterns suggest that the auditory association links of area 10 are critical for complex cognition. The first part of this review focuses on the organization of prefrontal-auditory pathways at the level of the system and the synapse, with a particular emphasis on area 10. Then we explore ideas on how the elusive role of area 10 in complex cognition may be related to the specialized relationship with auditory association cortices.

  14. Spiking in auditory cortex following thalamic stimulation is dominated by cortical network activity

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    Krause, Bryan M.; Raz, Aeyal; Uhlrich, Daniel J.; Smith, Philip H.; Banks, Matthew I.

    2014-01-01

    The state of the sensory cortical network can have a profound impact on neural responses and perception. In rodent auditory cortex, sensory responses are reported to occur in the context of network events, similar to brief UP states, that produce “packets” of spikes and are associated with synchronized synaptic input (Bathellier et al., 2012; Hromadka et al., 2013; Luczak et al., 2013). However, traditional models based on data from visual and somatosensory cortex predict that ascending sensory thalamocortical (TC) pathways sequentially activate cells in layers 4 (L4), L2/3, and L5. The relationship between these two spatio-temporal activity patterns is unclear. Here, we used calcium imaging and electrophysiological recordings in murine auditory TC brain slices to investigate the laminar response pattern to stimulation of TC afferents. We show that although monosynaptically driven spiking in response to TC afferents occurs, the vast majority of spikes fired following TC stimulation occurs during brief UP states and outside the context of the L4>L2/3>L5 activation sequence. Specifically, monosynaptic subthreshold TC responses with similar latencies were observed throughout layers 2–6, presumably via synapses onto dendritic processes located in L3 and L4. However, monosynaptic spiking was rare, and occurred primarily in L4 and L5 non-pyramidal cells. By contrast, during brief, TC-induced UP states, spiking was dense and occurred primarily in pyramidal cells. These network events always involved infragranular layers, whereas involvement of supragranular layers was variable. During UP states, spike latencies were comparable between infragranular and supragranular cells. These data are consistent with a model in which activation of auditory cortex, especially supragranular layers, depends on internally generated network events that represent a non-linear amplification process, are initiated by infragranular cells and tightly regulated by feed-forward inhibitory

  15. Basal ganglia modulation of thalamocortical relay in Parkinson's disease and dystonia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Yixin; Park, Choongseok; Worth, Robert M; Rubchinsky, Leonid L

    2013-01-01

    Basal ganglia dysfunction has being implied in both Parkinson's disease and dystonia. While these disorders probably involve different cellular and circuit pathologies within and beyond basal ganglia, there may be some shared neurophysiological pathways. For example, pallidotomy and pallidal Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) are used in symptomatic treatment of both disorders. Both conditions are marked by alterations of rhythmicity of neural activity throughout basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits. Increased synchronized oscillatory activity in beta band is characteristic of Parkinson's disease, while different frequency bands, theta and alpha, are involved in dystonia. We compare the effect of the activity of GPi, the output nuclei of the basal ganglia, on information processing in the downstream neural circuits of thalamus in Parkinson's disease and dystonia. We use a data-driven computational approach, a computational model of the thalamocortical (TC) cell modulated by experimentally recorded data, to study the differences and similarities of thalamic dynamics in dystonia and Parkinson's disease. Our analysis shows no substantial differences in TC relay between the two conditions. Our results suggest that, similar to Parkinson's disease, a disruption of thalamic processing could also be involved in dystonia. Moreover, the degree to which TC relay fidelity is impaired is approximately the same in both conditions. While Parkinson's disease and dystonia may have different pathologies and differ in the oscillatory content of neural discharge, our results suggest that the effect of patterning of pallidal discharge is similar in both conditions. Furthermore, these results suggest that the mechanisms of GPi DBS in dystonia may involve improvement of TC relay fidelity.

  16. The impact of auditory feedback on neuronavigation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Willems, PWA; Noordmans, HJ; van Overbeeke, JJ; Viergever, MA; Tulleken, CAF; van der Sprenkel, JWB

    Object. We aimed to develop an auditory feedback system to be used in addition to regular neuronavigation, in an attempt to improve the usefulness of the information offered by neuronavigation systems. Instrumentation. Using a serial connection, instrument co-ordinates determined by a commercially

  17. Exploration of Functional Connectivity During Preferred Music Stimulation in Patients with Disorders of Consciousness.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heine, Lizette; Castro, Maïté; Martial, Charlotte; Tillmann, Barbara; Laureys, Steven; Perrin, Fabien

    2015-01-01

    Preferred music is a highly emotional and salient stimulus, which has previously been shown to increase the probability of auditory cognitive event-related responses in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC). To further investigate whether and how music modifies the functional connectivity of the brain in DOC, five patients were assessed with both a classical functional connectivity scan (control condition), and a scan while they were exposed to their preferred music (music condition). Seed-based functional connectivity (left or right primary auditory cortex), and mean network connectivity of three networks linked to conscious sound perception were assessed. The auditory network showed stronger functional connectivity with the left precentral gyrus and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during music as compared to the control condition. Furthermore, functional connectivity of the external network was enhanced during the music condition in the temporo-parietal junction. Although caution should be taken due to small sample size, these results suggest that preferred music exposure might have effects on patients auditory network (implied in rhythm and music perception) and on cerebral regions linked to autobiographical memory.

  18. Exploration of functional connectivity during preferred music stimulation in patients with disorders of consciousness

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lizette eHeine

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Preferred music is a highly emotional and salient stimulus, which has previously been shown to increase the probability of auditory cognitive event-related responses in patients with disorders of consciousness (DOC. To further investigate whether and how music modifies the functional connectivity of the brain in DOC, five patients were assessed with both a classical functional connectivity scan (control condition, and a scan while they were exposed to their preferred music (music condition. Seed-based functional connectivity (left or right primary auditory cortex, and mean network connectivity of three networks linked to conscious sound perception were assessed. The auditory network showed stronger functional connectivity with the left precentral gyrus and the left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during music as compared to the control condition. Furthermore, functional connectivity of the external network was enhanced during the music condition in the temporo-parietal junction. Although caution should be taken due to small sample size, these results suggest that preferred music exposure might have effects on patients auditory network (implied in rhythm and music perception and on cerebral regions linked to autobiographical memory.

  19. Auditory reafferences: The influence of real-time feedback on movement control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christian eKennel

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Auditory reafferences are real-time auditory products created by a person’s own movements. Whereas the interdependency of action and perception is generally well studied, the auditory feedback channel and the influence of perceptual processes during movement execution remain largely unconsidered. We argue that movements have a rhythmic character that is closely connected to sound, making it possible to manipulate auditory reafferences online to understand their role in motor control. We examined if step sounds, occurring as a by-product of running, have an influence on the performance of a complex movement task. Twenty participants completed a hurdling task in three auditory feedback conditions: a control condition with normal auditory feedback, a white noise condition in which sound was masked, and a delayed auditory feedback condition. Overall time and kinematic data were collected. Results show that delayed auditory feedback led to a significantly slower overall time and changed kinematic parameters. Our findings complement previous investigations in a natural movement situation with nonartificial auditory cues. Our results support the existing theoretical understanding of action–perception coupling and hold potential for applied work, where naturally occurring movement sounds can be implemented in the motor learning processes.

  20. Auditory reafferences: the influence of real-time feedback on movement control.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kennel, Christian; Streese, Lukas; Pizzera, Alexandra; Justen, Christoph; Hohmann, Tanja; Raab, Markus

    2015-01-01

    Auditory reafferences are real-time auditory products created by a person's own movements. Whereas the interdependency of action and perception is generally well studied, the auditory feedback channel and the influence of perceptual processes during movement execution remain largely unconsidered. We argue that movements have a rhythmic character that is closely connected to sound, making it possible to manipulate auditory reafferences online to understand their role in motor control. We examined if step sounds, occurring as a by-product of running, have an influence on the performance of a complex movement task. Twenty participants completed a hurdling task in three auditory feedback conditions: a control condition with normal auditory feedback, a white noise condition in which sound was masked, and a delayed auditory feedback condition. Overall time and kinematic data were collected. Results show that delayed auditory feedback led to a significantly slower overall time and changed kinematic parameters. Our findings complement previous investigations in a natural movement situation with non-artificial auditory cues. Our results support the existing theoretical understanding of action-perception coupling and hold potential for applied work, where naturally occurring movement sounds can be implemented in the motor learning processes.

  1. Change in functional connectivity in tinnitus and its relation with tinnitus laterality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Song, Eun Jee; Kim, Eui Jong; Choi, Woo Suk [Dept. of Radiology, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Ryu, Chang Woo; Jahang, Geon Ho; Park, Moon Suh; Byun, Jae Yong; Park, Soon Chan [Kyung Hee University Hospital at Gangdong, School of Medicine, Kyung Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2016-12-15

    To identify potential differences in resting-state networks according to laterality of tinnitus using resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). A total of 83 age-matched subjects consisting of 19 patients with right-sided tinnitus (Rt-T), 22 patients with left-sided tinnitus (Lt-T), 22 patients with bilateral tinnitus (Bil-T), and 20 healthy controls underwent resting-state blood oxygenation-level dependent fMRI scans. Independent component analysis was used to obtain the functional connectivities in the auditory network (AN) and the default mode network (DMN), which were compared between each group using the voxel-wise one-way ANOVA. In addition, lateralization of the auditory cortex was assessed within each group using a region of interest (ROI). Comparisons between tinnitus groups showed unusual clusters with different functional connectivities in the AN and the DMN. The Rt-T group had large clusters with higher functional connectivity in the right middle temporal gyrus and temporopolar area compared with the Lt-/Bil-T and control groups. ROI analysis showed that the Rt-/Lt-T groups had dominant functional connectivity in the right auditory cortex and the Bil-T and control groups had left-dominant auditory connectivity. These results suggest that chronic tinnitus is related to aberrant laterality of the auditory cortex. These findings help clarify the neural mechanism of tinnitus and specify the targets for localization of treatment.

  2. Change in functional connectivity in tinnitus and its relation with tinnitus laterality

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Song, Eun Jee; Kim, Eui Jong; Choi, Woo Suk; Ryu, Chang Woo; Jahang, Geon Ho; Park, Moon Suh; Byun, Jae Yong; Park, Soon Chan

    2016-01-01

    To identify potential differences in resting-state networks according to laterality of tinnitus using resting-state functional MRI (fMRI). A total of 83 age-matched subjects consisting of 19 patients with right-sided tinnitus (Rt-T), 22 patients with left-sided tinnitus (Lt-T), 22 patients with bilateral tinnitus (Bil-T), and 20 healthy controls underwent resting-state blood oxygenation-level dependent fMRI scans. Independent component analysis was used to obtain the functional connectivities in the auditory network (AN) and the default mode network (DMN), which were compared between each group using the voxel-wise one-way ANOVA. In addition, lateralization of the auditory cortex was assessed within each group using a region of interest (ROI). Comparisons between tinnitus groups showed unusual clusters with different functional connectivities in the AN and the DMN. The Rt-T group had large clusters with higher functional connectivity in the right middle temporal gyrus and temporopolar area compared with the Lt-/Bil-T and control groups. ROI analysis showed that the Rt-/Lt-T groups had dominant functional connectivity in the right auditory cortex and the Bil-T and control groups had left-dominant auditory connectivity. These results suggest that chronic tinnitus is related to aberrant laterality of the auditory cortex. These findings help clarify the neural mechanism of tinnitus and specify the targets for localization of treatment

  3. Organization of the auditory brainstem in a lizard, Gekko gecko. I. Auditory nerve, cochlear nuclei, and superior olivary nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Yezhong; Christensen-Dalsgaard, Jakob; Carr, Catherine E

    2012-06-01

    We used tract tracing to reveal the connections of the auditory brainstem in the Tokay gecko (Gekko gecko). The auditory nerve has two divisions, a rostroventrally directed projection of mid- to high best-frequency fibers to the nucleus angularis (NA) and a more dorsal and caudal projection of low to middle best-frequency fibers that bifurcate to project to both the NA and the nucleus magnocellularis (NM). The projection to NM formed large somatic terminals and bouton terminals. NM projected bilaterally to the second-order nucleus laminaris (NL), such that the ipsilateral projection innervated the dorsal NL neuropil, whereas the contralateral projection crossed the midline and innervated the ventral dendrites of NL neurons. Neurons in NL were generally bitufted, with dorsoventrally oriented dendrites. NL projected to the contralateral torus semicircularis and to the contralateral ventral superior olive (SOv). NA projected to ipsilateral dorsal superior olive (SOd), sent a major projection to the contralateral SOv, and projected to torus semicircularis. The SOd projected to the contralateral SOv, which projected back to the ipsilateral NM, NL, and NA. These results suggest homologous patterns of auditory connections in lizards and archosaurs but also different processing of low- and high-frequency information in the brainstem. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  4. Listening to another sense: somatosensory integration in the auditory system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Calvin; Stefanescu, Roxana A; Martel, David T; Shore, Susan E

    2015-07-01

    Conventionally, sensory systems are viewed as separate entities, each with its own physiological process serving a different purpose. However, many functions require integrative inputs from multiple sensory systems and sensory intersection and convergence occur throughout the central nervous system. The neural processes for hearing perception undergo significant modulation by the two other major sensory systems, vision and somatosensation. This synthesis occurs at every level of the ascending auditory pathway: the cochlear nucleus, inferior colliculus, medial geniculate body and the auditory cortex. In this review, we explore the process of multisensory integration from (1) anatomical (inputs and connections), (2) physiological (cellular responses), (3) functional and (4) pathological aspects. We focus on the convergence between auditory and somatosensory inputs in each ascending auditory station. This review highlights the intricacy of sensory processing and offers a multisensory perspective regarding the understanding of sensory disorders.

  5. Decreased Cerebellar-Orbitofrontal Connectivity Correlates with Stuttering Severity: Whole-Brain Functional and Structural Connectivity Associations with Persistent Developmental Stuttering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitek, Kevin R; Cai, Shanqing; Beal, Deryk S; Perkell, Joseph S; Guenther, Frank H; Ghosh, Satrajit S

    2016-01-01

    Persistent developmental stuttering is characterized by speech production disfluency and affects 1% of adults. The degree of impairment varies widely across individuals and the neural mechanisms underlying the disorder and this variability remain poorly understood. Here we elucidate compensatory mechanisms related to this variability in impairment using whole-brain functional and white matter connectivity analyses in persistent developmental stuttering. We found that people who stutter had stronger functional connectivity between cerebellum and thalamus than people with fluent speech, while stutterers with the least severe symptoms had greater functional connectivity between left cerebellum and left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Additionally, people who stutter had decreased functional and white matter connectivity among the perisylvian auditory, motor, and speech planning regions compared to typical speakers, but greater functional connectivity between the right basal ganglia and bilateral temporal auditory regions. Structurally, disfluency ratings were negatively correlated with white matter connections to left perisylvian regions and to the brain stem. Overall, we found increased connectivity among subcortical and reward network structures in people who stutter compared to controls. These connections were negatively correlated with stuttering severity, suggesting the involvement of cerebellum and OFC may underlie successful compensatory mechanisms by more fluent stutterers.

  6. Decreased Cerebellar-Orbitofrontal Connectivity Correlates with Stuttering Severity: Whole-Brain Functional and Structural Connectivity Associations with Persistent Developmental Stuttering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sitek, Kevin R.; Cai, Shanqing; Beal, Deryk S.; Perkell, Joseph S.; Guenther, Frank H.; Ghosh, Satrajit S.

    2016-01-01

    Persistent developmental stuttering is characterized by speech production disfluency and affects 1% of adults. The degree of impairment varies widely across individuals and the neural mechanisms underlying the disorder and this variability remain poorly understood. Here we elucidate compensatory mechanisms related to this variability in impairment using whole-brain functional and white matter connectivity analyses in persistent developmental stuttering. We found that people who stutter had stronger functional connectivity between cerebellum and thalamus than people with fluent speech, while stutterers with the least severe symptoms had greater functional connectivity between left cerebellum and left orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Additionally, people who stutter had decreased functional and white matter connectivity among the perisylvian auditory, motor, and speech planning regions compared to typical speakers, but greater functional connectivity between the right basal ganglia and bilateral temporal auditory regions. Structurally, disfluency ratings were negatively correlated with white matter connections to left perisylvian regions and to the brain stem. Overall, we found increased connectivity among subcortical and reward network structures in people who stutter compared to controls. These connections were negatively correlated with stuttering severity, suggesting the involvement of cerebellum and OFC may underlie successful compensatory mechanisms by more fluent stutterers. PMID:27199712

  7. Decreased cerebellar-orbitofrontal connectivity correlates with stuttering severity: Whole-brain functional and structural connectivity associations with persistent developmental stuttering

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin Richard Sitek

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Persistent developmental stuttering is characterized by speech production disfluency and affects 1% of adults. The degree of impairment varies widely across individuals and the neural mechanisms underlying the disorder and this variability remain poorly understood. Here, we elucidate compensatory mechanisms related to this variability in impairment using whole-brain functional and white matter connectivity analyses in persistent developmental stuttering. We found that people who stutter had stronger functional connectivity between cerebellum and thalamus than people with fluent speech, while stutterers with the least severe symptoms had greater functional connectivity between left cerebellum and left orbitofrontal cortex. Additionally, people who stutter had decreased functional and white matter connectivity among the perisylvian auditory, motor, and speech planning regions compared to typical speakers, but greater functional connectivity between the right basal ganglia and bilateral temporal auditory regions. Structurally, disfluency ratings were negatively correlated with white matter connections to left perisylvian regions and to the brain stem. Overall, we found increased connectivity among subcortical and reward network structures in people who stutter compared to controls. These connections were negatively correlated with stuttering severity, suggesting the involvement of cerebellum and orbitofrontal cortex may underlie successful compensatory mechanisms by more fluent stutterers.

  8. Imaging of thalamocortical dysrhythmia in neuropsychiatry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua J Schulman

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available Abnormal brain activity dynamics, in the sense of a thalamocortical dysrhythmia (TCD, has been proposed as the underlying mechanism for a subset of disorders that bridge the traditional delineations of neurology and neuropsychiatry. In order to test this proposal from a psychiatric perspective, a study using magnetoencephalography (MEG was implemented in subjects with schizophrenic spectrum disorder (SSD (n=14, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD (n = 10, or depressive disorder (DD (n=5 and in control individuals (n = 18. Detailed CNS electrophysiological analysis of these patients, using MEG, revealed the presence of abnormal theta range spectral power with typical TCD characteristics, in all cases. The use of independent component analysis (ICA and minimum-norm-based methods localized such TCD to ventromedial prefrontal and temporal cortices. The observed mode of oscillation was spectrally equivalent but spatially distinct from that of TCD observed in other related disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, central tinnitus, neuropathic pain, and autism. The present results indicate that the functional basis for much of these pathologies may relate most fundamentally to the category of calcium channelopathies and serve as a model for the cellular substrate for low frequency oscillations present in these psychiatric disorders, providing a basis for therapeutic strategies.

  9. Enhanced Excitatory Connectivity and Disturbed Sound Processing in the Auditory Brainstem of Fragile X Mice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia-Pino, Elisabet; Gessele, Nikodemus; Koch, Ursula

    2017-08-02

    Hypersensitivity to sounds is one of the prevalent symptoms in individuals with Fragile X syndrome (FXS). It manifests behaviorally early during development and is often used as a landmark for treatment efficacy. However, the physiological mechanisms and circuit-level alterations underlying this aberrant behavior remain poorly understood. Using the mouse model of FXS ( Fmr1 KO ), we demonstrate that functional maturation of auditory brainstem synapses is impaired in FXS. Fmr1 KO mice showed a greatly enhanced excitatory synaptic input strength in neurons of the lateral superior olive (LSO), a prominent auditory brainstem nucleus, which integrates ipsilateral excitation and contralateral inhibition to compute interaural level differences. Conversely, the glycinergic, inhibitory input properties remained unaffected. The enhanced excitation was the result of an increased number of cochlear nucleus fibers converging onto one LSO neuron, without changing individual synapse properties. Concomitantly, immunolabeling of excitatory ending markers revealed an increase in the immunolabeled area, supporting abnormally elevated excitatory input numbers. Intrinsic firing properties were only slightly enhanced. In line with the disturbed development of LSO circuitry, auditory processing was also affected in adult Fmr1 KO mice as shown with single-unit recordings of LSO neurons. These processing deficits manifested as an increase in firing rate, a broadening of the frequency response area, and a shift in the interaural level difference function of LSO neurons. Our results suggest that this aberrant synaptic development of auditory brainstem circuits might be a major underlying cause of the auditory processing deficits in FXS. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Fragile X Syndrome (FXS) is the most common inheritable form of intellectual impairment, including autism. A core symptom of FXS is extreme sensitivity to loud sounds. This is one reason why individuals with FXS tend to avoid social

  10. Relative contributions of intracortical and thalamo-cortical processes in the generation of alpha rhythms, revealed by partial coherence analysis

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lopes da Silva, F.H.; Vos, J.E.; Mooibroek, J.; Rotterdam, A. van

    1980-01-01

    The thalamo-cortical relationships of alpha rhythms have been analysed in dogs using partial coherence function analysis. The objective was to clarify how far the large intracortical coherence commonly recorded between different cortical sites could depend on a common thalamic site. It was found

  11. Mean-field modeling of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical system. II Dynamics of parkinsonian oscillations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van Albada, S J; Gray, R T; Drysdale, P M; Robinson, P A

    2009-04-21

    Neuronal correlates of Parkinson's disease (PD) include a shift to lower frequencies in the electroencephalogram (EEG) and enhanced synchronized oscillations at 3-7 and 7-30 Hz in the basal ganglia, thalamus, and cortex. This study describes the dynamics of a recent physiologically based mean-field model of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical system, and shows how it accounts for many key electrophysiological correlates of PD. Its detailed functional connectivity comprises partially segregated direct and indirect pathways through two populations of striatal neurons, a hyperdirect pathway involving a corticosubthalamic projection, thalamostriatal feedback, and local inhibition in striatum and external pallidum (GPe). In a companion paper, realistic steady-state firing rates were obtained for the healthy state, and after dopamine loss modeled by weaker direct and stronger indirect pathways, reduced intrapallidal inhibition, lower firing thresholds of the GPe and subthalamic nucleus (STN), a stronger projection from striatum to GPe, and weaker cortical interactions. Here it is shown that oscillations around 5 and 20 Hz can arise with a strong indirect pathway, which also causes increased synchronization throughout the basal ganglia. Furthermore, increased theta power with progressive nigrostriatal degeneration is correlated with reduced alpha power and peak frequency, in agreement with empirical results. Unlike the hyperdirect pathway, the indirect pathway sustains oscillations with phase relationships that coincide with those found experimentally. Alterations in the responses of basal ganglia to transient stimuli accord with experimental observations. Reduced cortical gains due to both nigrostriatal and mesocortical dopamine loss lead to slower changes in cortical activity and may be related to bradykinesia. Finally, increased EEG power found in some studies may be partly explained by a lower effective GPe firing threshold, reduced GPe-GPe inhibition, and/or weaker

  12. Contextual modulation of primary visual cortex by auditory signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petro, L S; Paton, A T; Muckli, L

    2017-02-19

    Early visual cortex receives non-feedforward input from lateral and top-down connections (Muckli & Petro 2013 Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 23, 195-201. (doi:10.1016/j.conb.2013.01.020)), including long-range projections from auditory areas. Early visual cortex can code for high-level auditory information, with neural patterns representing natural sound stimulation (Vetter et al. 2014 Curr. Biol. 24, 1256-1262. (doi:10.1016/j.cub.2014.04.020)). We discuss a number of questions arising from these findings. What is the adaptive function of bimodal representations in visual cortex? What type of information projects from auditory to visual cortex? What are the anatomical constraints of auditory information in V1, for example, periphery versus fovea, superficial versus deep cortical layers? Is there a putative neural mechanism we can infer from human neuroimaging data and recent theoretical accounts of cortex? We also present data showing we can read out high-level auditory information from the activation patterns of early visual cortex even when visual cortex receives simple visual stimulation, suggesting independent channels for visual and auditory signals in V1. We speculate which cellular mechanisms allow V1 to be contextually modulated by auditory input to facilitate perception, cognition and behaviour. Beyond cortical feedback that facilitates perception, we argue that there is also feedback serving counterfactual processing during imagery, dreaming and mind wandering, which is not relevant for immediate perception but for behaviour and cognition over a longer time frame.This article is part of the themed issue 'Auditory and visual scene analysis'. © 2017 The Authors.

  13. Abnormal resting-state functional connectivity of the left caudate nucleus in obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Yunhui; Juhás, Michal; Greenshaw, Andrew J; Hu, Qiang; Meng, Xin; Cui, Hongsheng; Ding, Yongzhuo; Kang, Lu; Zhang, Yubo; Wang, Yuhua; Cui, Guangcheng; Li, Ping

    2016-06-03

    Altered brain activities in the cortico-striato-thalamocortical (CSTC) circuitry are implicated in the pathophysiology of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). However, whether the underlying changes occur only within this circuitry or in large-scale networks is still not thoroughly understood. This study performed voxel-based functional connectivity analysis on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data from thirty OCD patients and thirty healthy controls to investigate whole-brain intrinsic functional connectivity patterns in OCD. Relative to the healthy controls, OCD patients showed decreased functional connectivity within the CSTC circuitry but increased functional connectivity in other brain regions. Furthermore, decreased left caudate nucleus-thalamus connectivity within the CSTC circuitry was positively correlated with the illness duration of OCD. This study provides additional evidence that CSTC circuitry may play an essential role and alteration of large-scale brain networks may be involved in the pathophysiology of OCD. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Analysis of the role of the low threshold currents IT and Ih in intrinsic delta oscillations of thalamocortical neurons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yimy eAmarillo

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Thalamocortical neurons are involved in the generation and maintenance of brain rhythms associated with global functional states. The repetitive burst firing of TC neurons at delta frequencies (1-4 Hz has been linked to the oscillations recorded during deep sleep and during episodes of absence seizures. To get insight into the biophysical properties that are the basis for intrinsic delta oscillations in these neurons, we performed a bifurcation analysis of a minimal conductance-based thalamocortical neuron model including only the IT channel and the sodium and potassium leak channels. This analysis unveils the dynamics of repetitive burst firing of TC neurons, and describes how the interplay between the amplifying variable mT and the recovering variable hT of the calcium channel IT is sufficient to generate low threshold oscillations in the delta band. We also explored the role of the hyperpolarization activated cationic current Ih in this reduced model and determine that, albeit not required, Ih amplifies and stabilizes the oscillation.

  15. Auditory agnosia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slevc, L Robert; Shell, Alison R

    2015-01-01

    Auditory agnosia refers to impairments in sound perception and identification despite intact hearing, cognitive functioning, and language abilities (reading, writing, and speaking). Auditory agnosia can be general, affecting all types of sound perception, or can be (relatively) specific to a particular domain. Verbal auditory agnosia (also known as (pure) word deafness) refers to deficits specific to speech processing, environmental sound agnosia refers to difficulties confined to non-speech environmental sounds, and amusia refers to deficits confined to music. These deficits can be apperceptive, affecting basic perceptual processes, or associative, affecting the relation of a perceived auditory object to its meaning. This chapter discusses what is known about the behavioral symptoms and lesion correlates of these different types of auditory agnosia (focusing especially on verbal auditory agnosia), evidence for the role of a rapid temporal processing deficit in some aspects of auditory agnosia, and the few attempts to treat the perceptual deficits associated with auditory agnosia. A clear picture of auditory agnosia has been slow to emerge, hampered by the considerable heterogeneity in behavioral deficits, associated brain damage, and variable assessments across cases. Despite this lack of clarity, these striking deficits in complex sound processing continue to inform our understanding of auditory perception and cognition. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Opposing Effects of Maternal Hypo- and Hyperthyroidism on the Stability of Thalamocortical Synapses in the Visual Cortex of Adult Offspring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strobl, Marie-Therese J; Freeman, Daniel; Patel, Jenica; Poulsen, Ryan; Wendler, Christopher C; Rivkees, Scott A; Coleman, Jason E

    2017-05-01

    Insufficient or excessive thyroid hormone (TH) levels during fetal development can cause long-term neurological and cognitive problems. Studies in animal models of perinatal hypo- and hyperthyroidism suggest that these problems may be a consequence of the formation of maladaptive circuitry in the cerebral cortex, which can persist into adulthood. Here we used mouse models of maternal hypo- and hyperthyroidism to investigate the long-term effects of altering thyroxine (T4) levels during pregnancy (corresponding to embryonic days 6.5-18.5) on thalamocortical (TC) axon dynamics in adult offspring. Because perinatal hypothyroidism has been linked to visual processing deficits in humans, we performed chronic two-photon imaging of TC axons and boutons in primary visual cortex (V1). We found that a decrease or increase in maternal serum T4 levels was associated with atypical steady-state dynamics of TC axons and boutons in V1 of adult offspring. Hypothyroid offspring exhibited axonal branch and bouton dynamics indicative of an abnormal increase in TC connectivity, whereas changes in hyperthyroid offspring were indicative of an abnormal decrease in TC connectivity. Collectively, our data suggest that alterations to prenatal T4 levels can cause long-term synaptic instability in TC circuits, which could impair early stages of visual processing. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  17. Acquired auditory-visual synesthesia: A window to early cross-modal sensory interactions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pegah Afra

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Pegah Afra, Michael Funke, Fumisuke MatsuoDepartment of Neurology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USAAbstract: Synesthesia is experienced when sensory stimulation of one sensory modality elicits an involuntary sensation in another sensory modality. Auditory-visual synesthesia occurs when auditory stimuli elicit visual sensations. It has developmental, induced and acquired varieties. The acquired variety has been reported in association with deafferentation of the visual system as well as temporal lobe pathology with intact visual pathways. The induced variety has been reported in experimental and post-surgical blindfolding, as well as intake of hallucinogenic or psychedelics. Although in humans there is no known anatomical pathway connecting auditory areas to primary and/or early visual association areas, there is imaging and neurophysiologic evidence to the presence of early cross modal interactions between the auditory and visual sensory pathways. Synesthesia may be a window of opportunity to study these cross modal interactions. Here we review the existing literature in the acquired and induced auditory-visual synesthesias and discuss the possible neural mechanisms.Keywords: synesthesia, auditory-visual, cross modal

  18. Potential use of MEG to understand abnormalities in auditory function in clinical populations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eric eLarson

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Magnetoencephalography (MEG provides a direct, non-invasive view of neural activity with millisecond temporal precision. Recent developments in MEG analysis allow for improved source localization and mapping of connectivity between brain regions, expanding the possibilities for using MEG as a diagnostic tool. In this paper, we first describe inverse imaging methods (e.g., minimum-norm estimation and functional connectivity measures, and how they can provide insights into cortical processing. We then offer a perspective on how these techniques could be used to understand and evaluate auditory pathologies that often manifest during development. Here we focus specifically on how MEG inverse imaging, by providing anatomically-based interpretation of neural activity, may allow us to test which aspects of cortical processing play a role in (central auditory processing disorder ([C]APD. Appropriately combining auditory paradigms with MEG analysis could eventually prove useful for a hypothesis-driven understanding and diagnosis of (CAPD or other disorders, as well as the evaluation of the effectiveness of intervention strategies.

  19. A combined method to estimate parameters of the thalamocortical model from a heavily noise-corrupted time series of action potential

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Ruofan; Wang, Jiang; Deng, Bin, E-mail: dengbin@tju.edu.cn; Liu, Chen; Wei, Xile [Department of Electrical and Automation Engineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin (China); Tsang, K. M.; Chan, W. L. [Department of Electrical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Kowloon (Hong Kong)

    2014-03-15

    A combined method composing of the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and the synchronization-based method is proposed for estimating electrophysiological variables and parameters of a thalamocortical (TC) neuron model, which is commonly used for studying Parkinson's disease for its relay role of connecting the basal ganglia and the cortex. In this work, we take into account the condition when only the time series of action potential with heavy noise are available. Numerical results demonstrate that not only this method can estimate model parameters from the extracted time series of action potential successfully but also the effect of its estimation is much better than the only use of the UKF or synchronization-based method, with a higher accuracy and a better robustness against noise, especially under the severe noise conditions. Considering the rather important role of TC neuron in the normal and pathological brain functions, the exploration of the method to estimate the critical parameters could have important implications for the study of its nonlinear dynamics and further treatment of Parkinson's disease.

  20. A combined method to estimate parameters of the thalamocortical model from a heavily noise-corrupted time series of action potential

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Ruofan; Wang, Jiang; Deng, Bin; Liu, Chen; Wei, Xile; Tsang, K. M.; Chan, W. L.

    2014-01-01

    A combined method composing of the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and the synchronization-based method is proposed for estimating electrophysiological variables and parameters of a thalamocortical (TC) neuron model, which is commonly used for studying Parkinson's disease for its relay role of connecting the basal ganglia and the cortex. In this work, we take into account the condition when only the time series of action potential with heavy noise are available. Numerical results demonstrate that not only this method can estimate model parameters from the extracted time series of action potential successfully but also the effect of its estimation is much better than the only use of the UKF or synchronization-based method, with a higher accuracy and a better robustness against noise, especially under the severe noise conditions. Considering the rather important role of TC neuron in the normal and pathological brain functions, the exploration of the method to estimate the critical parameters could have important implications for the study of its nonlinear dynamics and further treatment of Parkinson's disease

  1. A combined method to estimate parameters of the thalamocortical model from a heavily noise-corrupted time series of action potential

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ruofan; Wang, Jiang; Deng, Bin; Liu, Chen; Wei, Xile; Tsang, K. M.; Chan, W. L.

    2014-03-01

    A combined method composing of the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) and the synchronization-based method is proposed for estimating electrophysiological variables and parameters of a thalamocortical (TC) neuron model, which is commonly used for studying Parkinson's disease for its relay role of connecting the basal ganglia and the cortex. In this work, we take into account the condition when only the time series of action potential with heavy noise are available. Numerical results demonstrate that not only this method can estimate model parameters from the extracted time series of action potential successfully but also the effect of its estimation is much better than the only use of the UKF or synchronization-based method, with a higher accuracy and a better robustness against noise, especially under the severe noise conditions. Considering the rather important role of TC neuron in the normal and pathological brain functions, the exploration of the method to estimate the critical parameters could have important implications for the study of its nonlinear dynamics and further treatment of Parkinson's disease.

  2. Auditory and audio-visual processing in patients with cochlear, auditory brainstem, and auditory midbrain implants: An EEG study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schierholz, Irina; Finke, Mareike; Kral, Andrej; Büchner, Andreas; Rach, Stefan; Lenarz, Thomas; Dengler, Reinhard; Sandmann, Pascale

    2017-04-01

    There is substantial variability in speech recognition ability across patients with cochlear implants (CIs), auditory brainstem implants (ABIs), and auditory midbrain implants (AMIs). To better understand how this variability is related to central processing differences, the current electroencephalography (EEG) study compared hearing abilities and auditory-cortex activation in patients with electrical stimulation at different sites of the auditory pathway. Three different groups of patients with auditory implants (Hannover Medical School; ABI: n = 6, CI: n = 6; AMI: n = 2) performed a speeded response task and a speech recognition test with auditory, visual, and audio-visual stimuli. Behavioral performance and cortical processing of auditory and audio-visual stimuli were compared between groups. ABI and AMI patients showed prolonged response times on auditory and audio-visual stimuli compared with NH listeners and CI patients. This was confirmed by prolonged N1 latencies and reduced N1 amplitudes in ABI and AMI patients. However, patients with central auditory implants showed a remarkable gain in performance when visual and auditory input was combined, in both speech and non-speech conditions, which was reflected by a strong visual modulation of auditory-cortex activation in these individuals. In sum, the results suggest that the behavioral improvement for audio-visual conditions in central auditory implant patients is based on enhanced audio-visual interactions in the auditory cortex. Their findings may provide important implications for the optimization of electrical stimulation and rehabilitation strategies in patients with central auditory prostheses. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2206-2225, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  3. A realistic neural mass model of the cortex with laminar-specific connections and synaptic plasticity - evaluation with auditory habituation.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peng Wang

    Full Text Available In this work we propose a biologically realistic local cortical circuit model (LCCM, based on neural masses, that incorporates important aspects of the functional organization of the brain that have not been covered by previous models: (1 activity dependent plasticity of excitatory synaptic couplings via depleting and recycling of neurotransmitters and (2 realistic inter-laminar dynamics via laminar-specific distribution of and connections between neural populations. The potential of the LCCM was demonstrated by accounting for the process of auditory habituation. The model parameters were specified using Bayesian inference. It was found that: (1 besides the major serial excitatory information pathway (layer 4 to layer 2/3 to layer 5/6, there exists a parallel "short-cut" pathway (layer 4 to layer 5/6, (2 the excitatory signal flow from the pyramidal cells to the inhibitory interneurons seems to be more intra-laminar while, in contrast, the inhibitory signal flow from inhibitory interneurons to the pyramidal cells seems to be both intra- and inter-laminar, and (3 the habituation rates of the connections are unsymmetrical: forward connections (from layer 4 to layer 2/3 are more strongly habituated than backward connections (from Layer 5/6 to layer 4. Our evaluation demonstrates that the novel features of the LCCM are of crucial importance for mechanistic explanations of brain function. The incorporation of these features into a mass model makes them applicable to modeling based on macroscopic data (like EEG or MEG, which are usually available in human experiments. Our LCCM is therefore a valuable building block for future realistic models of human cognitive function.

  4. Auditory Reserve and the Legacy of Auditory Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erika Skoe

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Musical training during childhood has been linked to more robust encoding of sound later in life. We take this as evidence for an auditory reserve: a mechanism by which individuals capitalize on earlier life experiences to promote auditory processing. We assert that early auditory experiences guide how the reserve develops and is maintained over the lifetime. Experiences that occur after childhood, or which are limited in nature, are theorized to affect the reserve, although their influence on sensory processing may be less long-lasting and may potentially fade over time if not repeated. This auditory reserve may help to explain individual differences in how individuals cope with auditory impoverishment or loss of sensorineural function.

  5. An optimised procedure for prenatal ethanol exposure with determination of its effects on central nervous system connections.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sbriccoli, A; Carretta, D; Santarelli, M; Granato, A; Minciacchi, D

    1999-01-01

    We describe the protocol set-up to investigate an experimental model of foetal alcohol syndrome in the rat. The protocol has been devised to expose specific cell populations of the central nervous system to ethanol during their neurogenesis and has been applied to the study of diencephalo-telencephalic connections. We were able to demonstrate specific permanent changes of the adult thalamo-cortical circuitry. Our protocol can be applied to study other aspects of central nervous system-ethanol interactions, such as neurotransmitter and receptor patterns. It can also represent a useful tool to test the effects of different diets to prevent nutritional deficiencies and the efficacy of drug treatments to prevent foetal alcohol syndrome. We have shown in fact that ethanol-induced thalamo-cortical alterations are partially prevented by concurrent administration of acetyl-L-carnitine. Finally, the present protocol can be used to investigate the effects of ethanol exposure on the development of different brain structures. To this purpose, the gestational period for ethanol exposure must be chosen according to the peak of neurogenesis for the investigated structure.

  6. Tap Arduino: An Arduino microcontroller for low-latency auditory feedback in sensorimotor synchronization experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schultz, Benjamin G; van Vugt, Floris T

    2016-12-01

    Timing abilities are often measured by having participants tap their finger along with a metronome and presenting tap-triggered auditory feedback. These experiments predominantly use electronic percussion pads combined with software (e.g., FTAP or Max/MSP) that records responses and delivers auditory feedback. However, these setups involve unknown latencies between tap onset and auditory feedback and can sometimes miss responses or record multiple, superfluous responses for a single tap. These issues may distort measurements of tapping performance or affect the performance of the individual. We present an alternative setup using an Arduino microcontroller that addresses these issues and delivers low-latency auditory feedback. We validated our setup by having participants (N = 6) tap on a force-sensitive resistor pad connected to the Arduino and on an electronic percussion pad with various levels of force and tempi. The Arduino delivered auditory feedback through a pulse-width modulation (PWM) pin connected to a headphone jack or a wave shield component. The Arduino's PWM (M = 0.6 ms, SD = 0.3) and wave shield (M = 2.6 ms, SD = 0.3) demonstrated significantly lower auditory feedback latencies than the percussion pad (M = 9.1 ms, SD = 2.0), FTAP (M = 14.6 ms, SD = 2.8), and Max/MSP (M = 15.8 ms, SD = 3.4). The PWM and wave shield latencies were also significantly less variable than those from FTAP and Max/MSP. The Arduino missed significantly fewer taps, and recorded fewer superfluous responses, than the percussion pad. The Arduino captured all responses, whereas at lower tapping forces, the percussion pad missed more taps. Regardless of tapping force, the Arduino outperformed the percussion pad. Overall, the Arduino is a high-precision, low-latency, portable, and affordable tool for auditory experiments.

  7. Task-specific reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bola, Łukasz; Zimmermann, Maria; Mostowski, Piotr; Jednoróg, Katarzyna; Marchewka, Artur; Rutkowski, Paweł; Szwed, Marcin

    2017-01-24

    The principles that guide large-scale cortical reorganization remain unclear. In the blind, several visual regions preserve their task specificity; ventral visual areas, for example, become engaged in auditory and tactile object-recognition tasks. It remains open whether task-specific reorganization is unique to the visual cortex or, alternatively, whether this kind of plasticity is a general principle applying to other cortical areas. Auditory areas can become recruited for visual and tactile input in the deaf. Although nonhuman data suggest that this reorganization might be task specific, human evidence has been lacking. Here we enrolled 15 deaf and 15 hearing adults into an functional MRI experiment during which they discriminated between temporally complex sequences of stimuli (rhythms). Both deaf and hearing subjects performed the task visually, in the central visual field. In addition, hearing subjects performed the same task in the auditory modality. We found that the visual task robustly activated the auditory cortex in deaf subjects, peaking in the posterior-lateral part of high-level auditory areas. This activation pattern was strikingly similar to the pattern found in hearing subjects performing the auditory version of the task. Although performing the visual task in deaf subjects induced an increase in functional connectivity between the auditory cortex and the dorsal visual cortex, no such effect was found in hearing subjects. We conclude that in deaf humans the high-level auditory cortex switches its input modality from sound to vision but preserves its task-specific activation pattern independent of input modality. Task-specific reorganization thus might be a general principle that guides cortical plasticity in the brain.

  8. Preferential effect of isoflurane on top-down vs. bottom-up pathways in sensory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raz, Aeyal; Grady, Sean M; Krause, Bryan M; Uhlrich, Daniel J; Manning, Karen A; Banks, Matthew I

    2014-01-01

    The mechanism of loss of consciousness (LOC) under anesthesia is unknown. Because consciousness depends on activity in the cortico-thalamic network, anesthetic actions on this network are likely critical for LOC. Competing theories stress the importance of anesthetic actions on bottom-up "core" thalamo-cortical (TC) vs. top-down cortico-cortical (CC) and matrix TC connections. We tested these models using laminar recordings in rat auditory cortex in vivo and murine brain slices. We selectively activated bottom-up vs. top-down afferent pathways using sensory stimuli in vivo and electrical stimulation in brain slices, and compared effects of isoflurane on responses evoked via the two pathways. Auditory stimuli in vivo and core TC afferent stimulation in brain slices evoked short latency current sinks in middle layers, consistent with activation of core TC afferents. By contrast, visual stimuli in vivo and stimulation of CC and matrix TC afferents in brain slices evoked responses mainly in superficial and deep layers, consistent with projection patterns of top-down afferents that carry visual information to auditory cortex. Responses to auditory stimuli in vivo and core TC afferents in brain slices were significantly less affected by isoflurane compared to responses triggered by visual stimuli in vivo and CC/matrix TC afferents in slices. At a just-hypnotic dose in vivo, auditory responses were enhanced by isoflurane, whereas visual responses were dramatically reduced. At a comparable concentration in slices, isoflurane suppressed both core TC and CC/matrix TC responses, but the effect on the latter responses was far greater than on core TC responses, indicating that at least part of the differential effects observed in vivo were due to local actions of isoflurane in auditory cortex. These data support a model in which disruption of top-down connectivity contributes to anesthesia-induced LOC, and have implications for understanding the neural basis of consciousness.

  9. The Central Auditory Processing Kit[TM]. Book 1: Auditory Memory [and] Book 2: Auditory Discrimination, Auditory Closure, and Auditory Synthesis [and] Book 3: Auditory Figure-Ground, Auditory Cohesion, Auditory Binaural Integration, and Compensatory Strategies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mokhemar, Mary Ann

    This kit for assessing central auditory processing disorders (CAPD), in children in grades 1 through 8 includes 3 books, 14 full-color cards with picture scenes, and a card depicting a phone key pad, all contained in a sturdy carrying case. The units in each of the three books correspond with auditory skill areas most commonly addressed in…

  10. Dynamics of dendritic spines in the mouse auditory cortex during memory formation and memory recall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moczulska, Kaja Ewa; Tinter-Thiede, Juliane; Peter, Manuel; Ushakova, Lyubov; Wernle, Tanja; Bathellier, Brice; Rumpel, Simon

    2013-11-05

    Long-lasting changes in synaptic connections induced by relevant experiences are believed to represent the physical correlate of memories. Here, we combined chronic in vivo two-photon imaging of dendritic spines with auditory-cued classical conditioning to test if the formation of a fear memory is associated with structural changes of synapses in the mouse auditory cortex. We find that paired conditioning and unpaired conditioning induce a transient increase in spine formation or spine elimination, respectively. A fraction of spines formed during paired conditioning persists and leaves a long-lasting trace in the network. Memory recall triggered by the reexposure of mice to the sound cue did not lead to changes in spine dynamics. Our findings provide a synaptic mechanism for plasticity in sound responses of auditory cortex neurons induced by auditory-cued fear conditioning; they also show that retrieval of an auditory fear memory does not lead to a recapitulation of structural plasticity in the auditory cortex as observed during initial memory consolidation.

  11. Resting-state brain networks revealed by granger causal connectivity in frogs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xue, Fei; Fang, Guangzhan; Yue, Xizi; Zhao, Ermi; Brauth, Steven E; Tang, Yezhong

    2016-10-15

    Resting-state networks (RSNs) refer to the spontaneous brain activity generated under resting conditions, which maintain the dynamic connectivity of functional brain networks for automatic perception or higher order cognitive functions. Here, Granger causal connectivity analysis (GCCA) was used to explore brain RSNs in the music frog (Babina daunchina) during different behavioral activity phases. The results reveal that a causal network in the frog brain can be identified during the resting state which reflects both brain lateralization and sexual dimorphism. Specifically (1) ascending causal connections from the left mesencephalon to both sides of the telencephalon are significantly higher than those from the right mesencephalon, while the right telencephalon gives rise to the strongest efferent projections among all brain regions; (2) causal connections from the left mesencephalon in females are significantly higher than those in males and (3) these connections are similar during both the high and low behavioral activity phases in this species although almost all electroencephalograph (EEG) spectral bands showed higher power in the high activity phase for all nodes. The functional features of this network match important characteristics of auditory perception in this species. Thus we propose that this causal network maintains auditory perception during the resting state for unexpected auditory inputs as resting-state networks do in other species. These results are also consistent with the idea that females are more sensitive to auditory stimuli than males during the reproductive season. In addition, these results imply that even when not behaviorally active, the frogs remain vigilant for detecting external stimuli. Copyright © 2016 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Laterality of basic auditory perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sininger, Yvonne S; Bhatara, Anjali

    2012-01-01

    Laterality (left-right ear differences) of auditory processing was assessed using basic auditory skills: (1) gap detection, (2) frequency discrimination, and (3) intensity discrimination. Stimuli included tones (500, 1000, and 4000 Hz) and wide-band noise presented monaurally to each ear of typical adult listeners. The hypothesis tested was that processing of tonal stimuli would be enhanced by left ear (LE) stimulation and noise by right ear (RE) presentations. To investigate the limits of laterality by (1) spectral width, a narrow-band noise (NBN) of 450-Hz bandwidth was evaluated using intensity discrimination, and (2) stimulus duration, 200, 500, and 1000 ms duration tones were evaluated using frequency discrimination. A left ear advantage (LEA) was demonstrated with tonal stimuli in all experiments, but an expected REA for noise stimuli was not found. The NBN stimulus demonstrated no LEA and was characterised as a noise. No change in laterality was found with changes in stimulus durations. The LEA for tonal stimuli is felt to be due to more direct connections between the left ear and the right auditory cortex, which has been shown to be primary for spectral analysis and tonal processing. The lack of a REA for noise stimuli is unexplained. Sex differences in laterality for noise stimuli were noted but were not statistically significant. This study did establish a subtle but clear pattern of LEA for processing of tonal stimuli.

  13. The function of BDNF in the adult auditory system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Wibke; Panford-Walsh, Rama; Knipper, Marlies

    2014-01-01

    The inner ear of vertebrates is specialized to perceive sound, gravity and movements. Each of the specialized sensory organs within the cochlea (sound) and vestibular system (gravity, head movements) transmits information to specific areas of the brain. During development, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) orchestrates the survival and outgrowth of afferent fibers connecting the vestibular organ and those regions in the cochlea that map information for low frequency sound to central auditory nuclei and higher-auditory centers. The role of BDNF in the mature inner ear is less understood. This is mainly due to the fact that constitutive BDNF mutant mice are postnatally lethal. Only in the last few years has the improved technology of performing conditional cell specific deletion of BDNF in vivo allowed the study of the function of BDNF in the mature developed organ. This review provides an overview of the current knowledge of the expression pattern and function of BDNF in the peripheral and central auditory system from just prior to the first auditory experience onwards. A special focus will be put on the differential mechanisms in which BDNF drives refinement of auditory circuitries during the onset of sensory experience and in the adult brain. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'BDNF Regulation of Synaptic Structure, Function, and Plasticity'. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  14. Auditory Perceptual Abilities Are Associated with Specific Auditory Experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yael Zaltz

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The extent to which auditory experience can shape general auditory perceptual abilities is still under constant debate. Some studies show that specific auditory expertise may have a general effect on auditory perceptual abilities, while others show a more limited influence, exhibited only in a relatively narrow range associated with the area of expertise. The current study addresses this issue by examining experience-dependent enhancement in perceptual abilities in the auditory domain. Three experiments were performed. In the first experiment, 12 pop and rock musicians and 15 non-musicians were tested in frequency discrimination (DLF, intensity discrimination, spectrum discrimination (DLS, and time discrimination (DLT. Results showed significant superiority of the musician group only for the DLF and DLT tasks, illuminating enhanced perceptual skills in the key features of pop music, in which miniscule changes in amplitude and spectrum are not critical to performance. The next two experiments attempted to differentiate between generalization and specificity in the influence of auditory experience, by comparing subgroups of specialists. First, seven guitar players and eight percussionists were tested in the DLF and DLT tasks that were found superior for musicians. Results showed superior abilities on the DLF task for guitar players, though no difference between the groups in DLT, demonstrating some dependency of auditory learning on the specific area of expertise. Subsequently, a third experiment was conducted, testing a possible influence of vowel density in native language on auditory perceptual abilities. Ten native speakers of German (a language characterized by a dense vowel system of 14 vowels, and 10 native speakers of Hebrew (characterized by a sparse vowel system of five vowels, were tested in a formant discrimination task. This is the linguistic equivalent of a DLS task. Results showed that German speakers had superior formant

  15. Auditory midbrain processing is differentially modulated by auditory and visual cortices: An auditory fMRI study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Patrick P; Zhang, Jevin W; Fan, Shu-Juan; Sanes, Dan H; Wu, Ed X

    2015-12-01

    The cortex contains extensive descending projections, yet the impact of cortical input on brainstem processing remains poorly understood. In the central auditory system, the auditory cortex contains direct and indirect pathways (via brainstem cholinergic cells) to nuclei of the auditory midbrain, called the inferior colliculus (IC). While these projections modulate auditory processing throughout the IC, single neuron recordings have samples from only a small fraction of cells during stimulation of the corticofugal pathway. Furthermore, assessments of cortical feedback have not been extended to sensory modalities other than audition. To address these issues, we devised blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) paradigms to measure the sound-evoked responses throughout the rat IC and investigated the effects of bilateral ablation of either auditory or visual cortices. Auditory cortex ablation increased the gain of IC responses to noise stimuli (primarily in the central nucleus of the IC) and decreased response selectivity to forward species-specific vocalizations (versus temporally reversed ones, most prominently in the external cortex of the IC). In contrast, visual cortex ablation decreased the gain and induced a much smaller effect on response selectivity. The results suggest that auditory cortical projections normally exert a large-scale and net suppressive influence on specific IC subnuclei, while visual cortical projections provide a facilitatory influence. Meanwhile, auditory cortical projections enhance the midbrain response selectivity to species-specific vocalizations. We also probed the role of the indirect cholinergic projections in the auditory system in the descending modulation process by pharmacologically blocking muscarinic cholinergic receptors. This manipulation did not affect the gain of IC responses but significantly reduced the response selectivity to vocalizations. The results imply that auditory cortical

  16. Abnormal Development of the Earliest Cortical Circuits in a Mouse Model of Autism Spectrum Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagode, Daniel A; Meng, Xiangying; Winkowski, Daniel E; Smith, Ed; Khan-Tareen, Hamza; Kareddy, Vishnupriya; Kao, Joseph P Y; Kanold, Patrick O

    2017-01-31

    Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) involves deficits in speech and sound processing. Cortical circuit changes during early development likely contribute to such deficits. Subplate neurons (SPNs) form the earliest cortical microcircuits and are required for normal development of thalamocortical and intracortical circuits. Prenatal valproic acid (VPA) increases ASD risk, especially when present during a critical time window coinciding with SPN genesis. Using optical circuit mapping in mouse auditory cortex, we find that VPA exposure on E12 altered the functional excitatory and inhibitory connectivity of SPNs. Circuit changes manifested as "patches" of mostly increased connection probability or strength in the first postnatal week and as general hyper-connectivity after P10, shortly after ear opening. These results suggest that prenatal VPA exposure severely affects the developmental trajectory of cortical circuits and that sensory-driven activity may exacerbate earlier, subtle connectivity deficits. Our findings identify the subplate as a possible common pathophysiological substrate of deficits in ASD. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Effects of scanner acoustic noise on intrinsic brain activity during auditory stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yakunina, Natalia; Kang, Eun Kyoung; Kim, Tae Su; Min, Ji-Hoon; Kim, Sam Soo; Nam, Eui-Cheol

    2015-10-01

    Although the effects of scanner background noise (SBN) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been extensively investigated for the brain regions involved in auditory processing, its impact on other types of intrinsic brain activity has largely been neglected. The present study evaluated the influence of SBN on a number of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) during auditory stimulation by comparing the results obtained using sparse temporal acquisition (STA) with those using continuous acquisition (CA). Fourteen healthy subjects were presented with classical music pieces in a block paradigm during two sessions of STA and CA. A volume-matched CA dataset (CAm) was generated by subsampling the CA dataset to temporally match it with the STA data. Independent component analysis was performed on the concatenated STA-CAm datasets, and voxel data, time courses, power spectra, and functional connectivity were compared. The ICA revealed 19 ICNs; the auditory, default mode, salience, and frontoparietal networks showed greater activity in the STA. The spectral peaks in 17 networks corresponded to the stimulation cycles in the STA, while only five networks displayed this correspondence in the CA. The dorsal default mode and salience networks exhibited stronger correlations with the stimulus waveform in the STA. SBN appeared to influence not only the areas of auditory response but also the majority of other ICNs, including attention and sensory networks. Therefore, SBN should be regarded as a serious nuisance factor during fMRI studies investigating intrinsic brain activity under external stimulation or task loads.

  18. Effects of scanner acoustic noise on intrinsic brain activity during auditory stimulation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yakunina, Natalia [Kangwon National University, Institute of Medical Science, School of Medicine, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Kangwon National University Hospital, Neuroscience Research Institute, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Kang, Eun Kyoung [Kangwon National University Hospital, Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Tae Su [Kangwon National University Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Min, Ji-Hoon [University of Michigan, Department of Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience, Ann Arbor, MI (United States); Kim, Sam Soo [Kangwon National University Hospital, Neuroscience Research Institute, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Nam, Eui-Cheol [Kangwon National University Hospital, Neuroscience Research Institute, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of); Kangwon National University, School of Medicine, Department of Otolaryngology, Chuncheon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    Although the effects of scanner background noise (SBN) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been extensively investigated for the brain regions involved in auditory processing, its impact on other types of intrinsic brain activity has largely been neglected. The present study evaluated the influence of SBN on a number of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) during auditory stimulation by comparing the results obtained using sparse temporal acquisition (STA) with those using continuous acquisition (CA). Fourteen healthy subjects were presented with classical music pieces in a block paradigm during two sessions of STA and CA. A volume-matched CA dataset (CAm) was generated by subsampling the CA dataset to temporally match it with the STA data. Independent component analysis was performed on the concatenated STA-CAm datasets, and voxel data, time courses, power spectra, and functional connectivity were compared. The ICA revealed 19 ICNs; the auditory, default mode, salience, and frontoparietal networks showed greater activity in the STA. The spectral peaks in 17 networks corresponded to the stimulation cycles in the STA, while only five networks displayed this correspondence in the CA. The dorsal default mode and salience networks exhibited stronger correlations with the stimulus waveform in the STA. SBN appeared to influence not only the areas of auditory response but also the majority of other ICNs, including attention and sensory networks. Therefore, SBN should be regarded as a serious nuisance factor during fMRI studies investigating intrinsic brain activity under external stimulation or task loads. (orig.)

  19. Effects of scanner acoustic noise on intrinsic brain activity during auditory stimulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yakunina, Natalia; Kang, Eun Kyoung; Kim, Tae Su; Min, Ji-Hoon; Kim, Sam Soo; Nam, Eui-Cheol

    2015-01-01

    Although the effects of scanner background noise (SBN) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have been extensively investigated for the brain regions involved in auditory processing, its impact on other types of intrinsic brain activity has largely been neglected. The present study evaluated the influence of SBN on a number of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) during auditory stimulation by comparing the results obtained using sparse temporal acquisition (STA) with those using continuous acquisition (CA). Fourteen healthy subjects were presented with classical music pieces in a block paradigm during two sessions of STA and CA. A volume-matched CA dataset (CAm) was generated by subsampling the CA dataset to temporally match it with the STA data. Independent component analysis was performed on the concatenated STA-CAm datasets, and voxel data, time courses, power spectra, and functional connectivity were compared. The ICA revealed 19 ICNs; the auditory, default mode, salience, and frontoparietal networks showed greater activity in the STA. The spectral peaks in 17 networks corresponded to the stimulation cycles in the STA, while only five networks displayed this correspondence in the CA. The dorsal default mode and salience networks exhibited stronger correlations with the stimulus waveform in the STA. SBN appeared to influence not only the areas of auditory response but also the majority of other ICNs, including attention and sensory networks. Therefore, SBN should be regarded as a serious nuisance factor during fMRI studies investigating intrinsic brain activity under external stimulation or task loads. (orig.)

  20. Mapping the after-effects of theta burst stimulation on the human auditory cortex with functional imaging.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andoh, Jamila; Zatorre, Robert J

    2012-09-12

    Auditory cortex pertains to the processing of sound, which is at the basis of speech or music-related processing. However, despite considerable recent progress, the functional properties and lateralization of the human auditory cortex are far from being fully understood. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive technique that can transiently or lastingly modulate cortical excitability via the application of localized magnetic field pulses, and represents a unique method of exploring plasticity and connectivity. It has only recently begun to be applied to understand auditory cortical function. An important issue in using TMS is that the physiological consequences of the stimulation are difficult to establish. Although many TMS studies make the implicit assumption that the area targeted by the coil is the area affected, this need not be the case, particularly for complex cognitive functions which depend on interactions across many brain regions. One solution to this problem is to combine TMS with functional Magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The idea here is that fMRI will provide an index of changes in brain activity associated with TMS. Thus, fMRI would give an independent means of assessing which areas are affected by TMS and how they are modulated. In addition, fMRI allows the assessment of functional connectivity, which represents a measure of the temporal coupling between distant regions. It can thus be useful not only to measure the net activity modulation induced by TMS in given locations, but also the degree to which the network properties are affected by TMS, via any observed changes in functional connectivity. Different approaches exist to combine TMS and functional imaging according to the temporal order of the methods. Functional MRI can be applied before, during, after, or both before and after TMS. Recently, some studies interleaved TMS and fMRI in order to provide online mapping of the functional changes induced by TMS. However, this

  1. Insult-induced adaptive plasticity of the auditory system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshua R Gold

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The brain displays a remarkable capacity for both widespread and region-specific modifications in response to environmental challenges, with adaptive processes bringing about the reweighting of connections in neural networks putatively required for optimising performance and behaviour. As an avenue for investigation, studies centred around changes in the mammalian auditory system, extending from the brainstem to the cortex, have revealed a plethora of mechanisms that operate in the context of sensory disruption after insult, be it lesion-, noise trauma, drug-, or age-related. Of particular interest in recent work are those aspects of auditory processing which, after sensory disruption, change at multiple – if not all – levels of the auditory hierarchy. These include changes in excitatory, inhibitory and neuromodulatory networks, consistent with theories of homeostatic plasticity; functional alterations in gene expression and in protein levels; as well as broader network processing effects with cognitive and behavioural implications. Nevertheless, there abounds substantial debate regarding which of these processes may only be sequelae of the original insult, and which may, in fact, be maladaptively compelling further degradation of the organism’s competence to cope with its disrupted sensory context. In this review, we aim to examine how the mammalian auditory system responds in the wake of particular insults, and to disambiguate how the changes that develop might underlie a correlated class of phantom disorders, including tinnitus and hyperacusis, which putatively are brought about through maladaptive neuroplastic disruptions to auditory networks governing the spatial and temporal processing of acoustic sensory information.

  2. Monitoring Effective Connectivity in the Preterm Brain: A Graph Approach to Study Maturation

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    M. Lavanga

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, functional connectivity in the developmental science received increasing attention. Although it has been reported that the anatomical connectivity in the preterm brain develops dramatically during the last months of pregnancy, little is known about how functional and effective connectivity change with maturation. The present study investigated how effective connectivity in premature infants evolves. To assess it, we use EEG measurements and graph-theory methodologies. We recorded data from 25 preterm babies, who underwent long-EEG monitoring at least twice during their stay in the NICU. The recordings took place from 27 weeks postmenstrual age (PMA until 42 weeks PMA. Results showed that the EEG-connectivity, assessed using graph-theory indices, moved from a small-world network to a random one, since the clustering coefficient increases and the path length decreases. This shift can be due to the development of the thalamocortical connections and long-range cortical connections. Based on the network indices, we developed different age-prediction models. The best result showed that it is possible to predict the age of the infant with a root mean-squared error (MSE equal to 2.11 weeks. These results are similar to the ones reported in the literature for age prediction in preterm babies.

  3. Auditory Association Cortex Lesions Impair Auditory Short-Term Memory in Monkeys

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colombo, Michael; D'Amato, Michael R.; Rodman, Hillary R.; Gross, Charles G.

    1990-01-01

    Monkeys that were trained to perform auditory and visual short-term memory tasks (delayed matching-to-sample) received lesions of the auditory association cortex in the superior temporal gyrus. Although visual memory was completely unaffected by the lesions, auditory memory was severely impaired. Despite this impairment, all monkeys could discriminate sounds closer in frequency than those used in the auditory memory task. This result suggests that the superior temporal cortex plays a role in auditory processing and retention similar to the role the inferior temporal cortex plays in visual processing and retention.

  4. Visual Timing of Structured Dance Movements Resembles Auditory Rhythm Perception

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Yi-Huang; Salazar-López, Elvira

    2016-01-01

    Temporal mechanisms for processing auditory musical rhythms are well established, in which a perceived beat is beneficial for timing purposes. It is yet unknown whether such beat-based timing would also underlie visual perception of temporally structured, ecological stimuli connected to music: dance. In this study, we investigated whether observers extracted a visual beat when watching dance movements to assist visual timing of these movements. Participants watched silent videos of dance sequences and reproduced the movement duration by mental recall. We found better visual timing for limb movements with regular patterns in the trajectories than without, similar to the beat advantage for auditory rhythms. When movements involved both the arms and the legs, the benefit of a visual beat relied only on the latter. The beat-based advantage persisted despite auditory interferences that were temporally incongruent with the visual beat, arguing for the visual nature of these mechanisms. Our results suggest that visual timing principles for dance parallel their auditory counterparts for music, which may be based on common sensorimotor coupling. These processes likely yield multimodal rhythm representations in the scenario of music and dance. PMID:27313900

  5. Auditory hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Blom, Jan Dirk

    2015-01-01

    Auditory hallucinations constitute a phenomenologically rich group of endogenously mediated percepts which are associated with psychiatric, neurologic, otologic, and other medical conditions, but which are also experienced by 10-15% of all healthy individuals in the general population. The group of phenomena is probably best known for its verbal auditory subtype, but it also includes musical hallucinations, echo of reading, exploding-head syndrome, and many other types. The subgroup of verbal auditory hallucinations has been studied extensively with the aid of neuroimaging techniques, and from those studies emerges an outline of a functional as well as a structural network of widely distributed brain areas involved in their mediation. The present chapter provides an overview of the various types of auditory hallucination described in the literature, summarizes our current knowledge of the auditory networks involved in their mediation, and draws on ideas from the philosophy of science and network science to reconceptualize the auditory hallucinatory experience, and point out directions for future research into its neurobiologic substrates. In addition, it provides an overview of known associations with various clinical conditions and of the existing evidence for pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments. © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Auditory agnosia due to long-term severe hydrocephalus caused by spina bifida - specific auditory pathway versus nonspecific auditory pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Qing; Kaga, Kimitaka; Hayashi, Akimasa

    2011-07-01

    A 27-year-old female showed auditory agnosia after long-term severe hydrocephalus due to congenital spina bifida. After years of hydrocephalus, she gradually suffered from hearing loss in her right ear at 19 years of age, followed by her left ear. During the time when she retained some ability to hear, she experienced severe difficulty in distinguishing verbal, environmental, and musical instrumental sounds. However, her auditory brainstem response and distortion product otoacoustic emissions were largely intact in the left ear. Her bilateral auditory cortices were preserved, as shown by neuroimaging, whereas her auditory radiations were severely damaged owing to progressive hydrocephalus. Although she had a complete bilateral hearing loss, she felt great pleasure when exposed to music. After years of self-training to read lips, she regained fluent ability to communicate. Clinical manifestations of this patient indicate that auditory agnosia can occur after long-term hydrocephalus due to spina bifida; the secondary auditory pathway may play a role in both auditory perception and hearing rehabilitation.

  7. Auditory short-term memory in the primate auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, Brian H; Mishkin, Mortimer

    2016-06-01

    Sounds are fleeting, and assembling the sequence of inputs at the ear into a coherent percept requires auditory memory across various time scales. Auditory short-term memory comprises at least two components: an active ׳working memory' bolstered by rehearsal, and a sensory trace that may be passively retained. Working memory relies on representations recalled from long-term memory, and their rehearsal may require phonological mechanisms unique to humans. The sensory component, passive short-term memory (pSTM), is tractable to study in nonhuman primates, whose brain architecture and behavioral repertoire are comparable to our own. This review discusses recent advances in the behavioral and neurophysiological study of auditory memory with a focus on single-unit recordings from macaque monkeys performing delayed-match-to-sample (DMS) tasks. Monkeys appear to employ pSTM to solve these tasks, as evidenced by the impact of interfering stimuli on memory performance. In several regards, pSTM in monkeys resembles pitch memory in humans, and may engage similar neural mechanisms. Neural correlates of DMS performance have been observed throughout the auditory and prefrontal cortex, defining a network of areas supporting auditory STM with parallels to that supporting visual STM. These correlates include persistent neural firing, or a suppression of firing, during the delay period of the memory task, as well as suppression or (less commonly) enhancement of sensory responses when a sound is repeated as a ׳match' stimulus. Auditory STM is supported by a distributed temporo-frontal network in which sensitivity to stimulus history is an intrinsic feature of auditory processing. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  8. Fronto-parietal and fronto-temporal theta phase synchronization for visual and auditory-verbal working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kawasaki, Masahiro; Kitajo, Keiichi; Yamaguchi, Yoko

    2014-01-01

    In humans, theta phase (4-8 Hz) synchronization observed on electroencephalography (EEG) plays an important role in the manipulation of mental representations during working memory (WM) tasks; fronto-temporal synchronization is involved in auditory-verbal WM tasks and fronto-parietal synchronization is involved in visual WM tasks. However, whether or not theta phase synchronization is able to select the to-be-manipulated modalities is uncertain. To address the issue, we recorded EEG data from subjects who were performing auditory-verbal and visual WM tasks; we compared the theta synchronizations when subjects performed either auditory-verbal or visual manipulations in separate WM tasks, or performed both two manipulations in the same WM task. The auditory-verbal WM task required subjects to calculate numbers presented by an auditory-verbal stimulus, whereas the visual WM task required subjects to move a spatial location in a mental representation in response to a visual stimulus. The dual WM task required subjects to manipulate auditory-verbal, visual, or both auditory-verbal and visual representations while maintaining auditory-verbal and visual representations. Our time-frequency EEG analyses revealed significant fronto-temporal theta phase synchronization during auditory-verbal manipulation in both auditory-verbal and auditory-verbal/visual WM tasks, but not during visual manipulation tasks. Similarly, we observed significant fronto-parietal theta phase synchronization during visual manipulation tasks, but not during auditory-verbal manipulation tasks. Moreover, we observed significant synchronization in both the fronto-temporal and fronto-parietal theta signals during simultaneous auditory-verbal/visual manipulations. These findings suggest that theta synchronization seems to flexibly connect the brain areas that manipulate WM.

  9. Fronto-parietal and fronto-temporal theta phase synchronization for visual and auditory-verbal working memory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masahiro eKawasaki

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available In humans, theta phase (4–8 Hz synchronization observed on electroencephalography (EEG plays an important role in the manipulation of mental representations during working memory (WM tasks; fronto-temporal synchronization is involved in auditory-verbal WM tasks and fronto-parietal synchronization is involved in visual WM tasks. However, whether or not theta phase synchronization is able to select the to-be-manipulated modalities is uncertain. To address the issue, we recorded EEG data from subjects who were performing auditory-verbal and visual WM tasks; we compared the theta synchronizations when subjects performed either auditory-verbal or visual manipulations in separate WM tasks, or performed both two manipulations in the same WM task. The auditory-verbal WM task required subjects to calculate numbers presented by an auditory-verbal stimulus, whereas the visual WM task required subjects to move a spatial location in a mental representation in response to a visual stimulus. The dual WM task required subjects to manipulate auditory-verbal, visual, or both auditory-verbal and visual representations while maintaining auditory-verbal and visual representations. Our time-frequency EEG analyses revealed significant fronto-temporal theta phase synchronization during auditory-verbal manipulation in both auditory-verbal and auditory-verbal/visual WM tasks, but not during visual manipulation tasks. Similarly, we observed significant fronto-parietal theta phase synchronization during visual manipulation tasks, but not during auditory-verbal manipulation tasks. Moreover, we observed significant synchronization in both the fronto-temporal and fronto-parietal theta signals during simultaneous auditory-verbal/visual manipulations. These findings suggest that theta synchronization seems to flexibly connect the brain areas that manipulate WM.

  10. Thalamocortical NMDA conductances and intracortical inhibition can explain cortical temporal tuning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krukowski, A. E.; Miller, K. D.

    2001-01-01

    Cells in cerebral cortex fail to respond to fast-moving stimuli that evoke strong responses in the thalamic nuclei innervating the cortex. The reason for this behavior has remained a mystery. We study an experimentally motivated model of the thalamic input-recipient layer of cat primary visual cortex that accounts for many aspects of cortical orientation tuning. In this circuit, inhibition dominates over excitation, but temporal modulations of excitation and inhibition occur out of phase with one another, allowing excitation to transiently drive cells. We show that this circuit provides a natural explanation of cortical low-pass temporal frequency tuning, provided N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors are present in thalamocortical synapses in proportions measured experimentally. This suggests a new and unanticipated role for NMDA conductances in shaping the temporal response properties of cortical cells, and suggests that common cortical circuit mechanisms underlie both spatial and temporal response tuning.

  11. Prefrontal-Thalamic Anatomical Connectivity and Executive Cognitive Function in Schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giraldo-Chica, Monica; Rogers, Baxter P; Damon, Stephen M; Landman, Bennett A; Woodward, Neil D

    2018-03-15

    Executive cognitive functions, including working memory, cognitive flexibility, and inhibition, are impaired in schizophrenia. Executive functions rely on coordinated information processing between the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and thalamus, particularly the mediodorsal nucleus. This raises the possibility that anatomical connectivity between the PFC and mediodorsal thalamus may be 1) reduced in schizophrenia and 2) related to deficits in executive function. The current investigation tested these hypotheses. Forty-five healthy subjects and 62 patients with a schizophrenia spectrum disorder completed a battery of tests of executive function and underwent diffusion-weighted imaging. Probabilistic tractography was used to quantify anatomical connectivity between six cortical regions, including PFC, and the thalamus. Thalamocortical anatomical connectivity was compared between healthy subjects and patients with schizophrenia using region-of-interest and voxelwise approaches, and the association between PFC-thalamic anatomical connectivity and severity of executive function impairment was examined in patients. Anatomical connectivity between the thalamus and PFC was reduced in schizophrenia. Voxelwise analysis localized the reduction to areas of the mediodorsal thalamus connected to lateral PFC. Reduced PFC-thalamic connectivity in schizophrenia correlated with impaired working memory but not cognitive flexibility and inhibition. In contrast to reduced PFC-thalamic connectivity, thalamic connectivity with somatosensory and occipital cortices was increased in schizophrenia. The results are consistent with models implicating disrupted PFC-thalamic connectivity in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and mechanisms of cognitive impairment. PFC-thalamic anatomical connectivity may be an important target for procognitive interventions. Further work is needed to determine the implications of increased thalamic connectivity with sensory cortex. Copyright © 2017 Society of

  12. Auditory and visual interactions between the superior and inferior colliculi in the ferret.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stitt, Iain; Galindo-Leon, Edgar; Pieper, Florian; Hollensteiner, Karl J; Engler, Gerhard; Engel, Andreas K

    2015-05-01

    The integration of visual and auditory spatial information is important for building an accurate perception of the external world, but the fundamental mechanisms governing such audiovisual interaction have only partially been resolved. The earliest interface between auditory and visual processing pathways is in the midbrain, where the superior (SC) and inferior colliculi (IC) are reciprocally connected in an audiovisual loop. Here, we investigate the mechanisms of audiovisual interaction in the midbrain by recording neural signals from the SC and IC simultaneously in anesthetized ferrets. Visual stimuli reliably produced band-limited phase locking of IC local field potentials (LFPs) in two distinct frequency bands: 6-10 and 15-30 Hz. These visual LFP responses co-localized with robust auditory responses that were characteristic of the IC. Imaginary coherence analysis confirmed that visual responses in the IC were not volume-conducted signals from the neighboring SC. Visual responses in the IC occurred later than retinally driven superficial SC layers and earlier than deep SC layers that receive indirect visual inputs, suggesting that retinal inputs do not drive visually evoked responses in the IC. In addition, SC and IC recording sites with overlapping visual spatial receptive fields displayed stronger functional connectivity than sites with separate receptive fields, indicating that visual spatial maps are aligned across both midbrain structures. Reciprocal coupling between the IC and SC therefore probably serves the dynamic integration of visual and auditory representations of space. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  13. Stuttering adults' lack of pre-speech auditory modulation normalizes when speaking with delayed auditory feedback.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daliri, Ayoub; Max, Ludo

    2018-02-01

    Auditory modulation during speech movement planning is limited in adults who stutter (AWS), but the functional relevance of the phenomenon itself remains unknown. We investigated for AWS and adults who do not stutter (AWNS) (a) a potential relationship between pre-speech auditory modulation and auditory feedback contributions to speech motor learning and (b) the effect on pre-speech auditory modulation of real-time versus delayed auditory feedback. Experiment I used a sensorimotor adaptation paradigm to estimate auditory-motor speech learning. Using acoustic speech recordings, we quantified subjects' formant frequency adjustments across trials when continually exposed to formant-shifted auditory feedback. In Experiment II, we used electroencephalography to determine the same subjects' extent of pre-speech auditory modulation (reductions in auditory evoked potential N1 amplitude) when probe tones were delivered prior to speaking versus not speaking. To manipulate subjects' ability to monitor real-time feedback, we included speaking conditions with non-altered auditory feedback (NAF) and delayed auditory feedback (DAF). Experiment I showed that auditory-motor learning was limited for AWS versus AWNS, and the extent of learning was negatively correlated with stuttering frequency. Experiment II yielded several key findings: (a) our prior finding of limited pre-speech auditory modulation in AWS was replicated; (b) DAF caused a decrease in auditory modulation for most AWNS but an increase for most AWS; and (c) for AWS, the amount of auditory modulation when speaking with DAF was positively correlated with stuttering frequency. Lastly, AWNS showed no correlation between pre-speech auditory modulation (Experiment II) and extent of auditory-motor learning (Experiment I) whereas AWS showed a negative correlation between these measures. Thus, findings suggest that AWS show deficits in both pre-speech auditory modulation and auditory-motor learning; however, limited pre

  14. Effect of delayed auditory feedback on stuttering with and without central auditory processing disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Picoloto, Luana Altran; Cardoso, Ana Cláudia Vieira; Cerqueira, Amanda Venuti; Oliveira, Cristiane Moço Canhetti de

    2017-12-07

    To verify the effect of delayed auditory feedback on speech fluency of individuals who stutter with and without central auditory processing disorders. The participants were twenty individuals with stuttering from 7 to 17 years old and were divided into two groups: Stuttering Group with Auditory Processing Disorders (SGAPD): 10 individuals with central auditory processing disorders, and Stuttering Group (SG): 10 individuals without central auditory processing disorders. Procedures were: fluency assessment with non-altered auditory feedback (NAF) and delayed auditory feedback (DAF), assessment of the stuttering severity and central auditory processing (CAP). Phono Tools software was used to cause a delay of 100 milliseconds in the auditory feedback. The "Wilcoxon Signal Post" test was used in the intragroup analysis and "Mann-Whitney" test in the intergroup analysis. The DAF caused a statistically significant reduction in SG: in the frequency score of stuttering-like disfluencies in the analysis of the Stuttering Severity Instrument, in the amount of blocks and repetitions of monosyllabic words, and in the frequency of stuttering-like disfluencies of duration. Delayed auditory feedback did not cause statistically significant effects on SGAPD fluency, individuals with stuttering with auditory processing disorders. The effect of delayed auditory feedback in speech fluency of individuals who stutter was different in individuals of both groups, because there was an improvement in fluency only in individuals without auditory processing disorder.

  15. Auditory, visual and auditory-visual memory and sequencing performance in typically developing children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pillai, Roshni; Yathiraj, Asha

    2017-09-01

    The study evaluated whether there exists a difference/relation in the way four different memory skills (memory score, sequencing score, memory span, & sequencing span) are processed through the auditory modality, visual modality and combined modalities. Four memory skills were evaluated on 30 typically developing children aged 7 years and 8 years across three modality conditions (auditory, visual, & auditory-visual). Analogous auditory and visual stimuli were presented to evaluate the three modality conditions across the two age groups. The children obtained significantly higher memory scores through the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. Likewise, their memory scores were significantly higher through the auditory-visual modality condition than through the visual modality. However, no effect of modality was observed on the sequencing scores as well as for the memory and the sequencing span. A good agreement was seen between the different modality conditions that were studied (auditory, visual, & auditory-visual) for the different memory skills measures (memory scores, sequencing scores, memory span, & sequencing span). A relatively lower agreement was noted only between the auditory and visual modalities as well as between the visual and auditory-visual modality conditions for the memory scores, measured using Bland-Altman plots. The study highlights the efficacy of using analogous stimuli to assess the auditory, visual as well as combined modalities. The study supports the view that the performance of children on different memory skills was better through the auditory modality compared to the visual modality. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Hearing with Two Ears: Evidence for Cortical Binaural Interaction during Auditory Processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Henkin, Yael; Yaar-Soffer, Yifat; Givon, Lihi; Hildesheimer, Minka

    2015-04-01

    Integration of information presented to the two ears has been shown to manifest in binaural interaction components (BICs) that occur along the ascending auditory pathways. In humans, BICs have been studied predominantly at the brainstem and thalamocortical levels; however, understanding of higher cortically driven mechanisms of binaural hearing is limited. To explore whether BICs are evident in auditory event-related potentials (AERPs) during the advanced perceptual and postperceptual stages of cortical processing. The AERPs N1, P3, and a late negative component (LNC) were recorded from multiple site electrodes while participants performed an oddball discrimination task that consisted of natural speech syllables (/ka/ vs. /ta/) that differed by place-of-articulation. Participants were instructed to respond to the target stimulus (/ta/) while performing the task in three listening conditions: monaural right, monaural left, and binaural. Fifteen (21-32 yr) young adults (6 females) with normal hearing sensitivity. By subtracting the response to target stimuli elicited in the binaural condition from the sum of responses elicited in the monaural right and left conditions, the BIC waveform was derived and the latencies and amplitudes of the components were measured. The maximal interaction was calculated by dividing BIC amplitude by the summed right and left response amplitudes. In addition, the latencies and amplitudes of the AERPs to target stimuli elicited in the monaural right, monaural left, and binaural listening conditions were measured and subjected to analysis of variance with repeated measures testing the effect of listening condition and laterality. Three consecutive BICs were identified at a mean latency of 129, 406, and 554 msec, and were labeled N1-BIC, P3-BIC, and LNC-BIC, respectively. Maximal interaction increased significantly with progression of auditory processing from perceptual to postperceptual stages and amounted to 51%, 55%, and 75% of the sum of

  17. A hardware model of the auditory periphery to transduce acoustic signals into neural activity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takashi eTateno

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available To improve the performance of cochlear implants, we have integrated a microdevice into a model of the auditory periphery with the goal of creating a microprocessor. We constructed an artificial peripheral auditory system using a hybrid model in which polyvinylidene difluoride was used as a piezoelectric sensor to convert mechanical stimuli into electric signals. To produce frequency selectivity, the slit on a stainless steel base plate was designed such that the local resonance frequency of the membrane over the slit reflected the transfer function. In the acoustic sensor, electric signals were generated based on the piezoelectric effect from local stress in the membrane. The electrodes on the resonating plate produced relatively large electric output signals. The signals were fed into a computer model that mimicked some functions of inner hair cells, inner hair cell–auditory nerve synapses, and auditory nerve fibers. In general, the responses of the model to pure-tone burst and complex stimuli accurately represented the discharge rates of high-spontaneous-rate auditory nerve fibers across a range of frequencies greater than 1 kHz and middle to high sound pressure levels. Thus, the model provides a tool to understand information processing in the peripheral auditory system and a basic design for connecting artificial acoustic sensors to the peripheral auditory nervous system. Finally, we discuss the need for stimulus control with an appropriate model of the auditory periphery based on auditory brainstem responses that were electrically evoked by different temporal pulse patterns with the same pulse number.

  18. Gender differences in identifying emotions from auditory and visual stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waaramaa, Teija

    2017-12-01

    The present study focused on gender differences in emotion identification from auditory and visual stimuli produced by two male and two female actors. Differences in emotion identification from nonsense samples, language samples and prolonged vowels were investigated. It was also studied whether auditory stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without visual stimuli, and whether visual stimuli can convey the emotional content of speech without auditory stimuli. The aim was to get a better knowledge of vocal attributes and a more holistic understanding of the nonverbal communication of emotion. Females tended to be more accurate in emotion identification than males. Voice quality parameters played a role in emotion identification in both genders. The emotional content of the samples was best conveyed by nonsense sentences, better than by prolonged vowels or shared native language of the speakers and participants. Thus, vocal non-verbal communication tends to affect the interpretation of emotion even in the absence of language. The emotional stimuli were better recognized from visual stimuli than auditory stimuli by both genders. Visual information about speech may not be connected to the language; instead, it may be based on the human ability to understand the kinetic movements in speech production more readily than the characteristics of the acoustic cues.

  19. Effect of Explicit Evaluation on Neural Connectivity Related to Listening to Unfamiliar Music

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Chao; Brattico, Elvira; Abu-jamous, Basel; Pereira, Carlos S.; Jacobsen, Thomas; Nandi, Asoke K.

    2017-01-01

    People can experience different emotions when listening to music. A growing number of studies have investigated the brain structures and neural connectivities associated with perceived emotions. However, very little is known about the effect of an explicit act of judgment on the neural processing of emotionally-valenced music. In this study, we adopted the novel consensus clustering paradigm, called binarisation of consensus partition matrices (Bi-CoPaM), to study whether and how the conscious aesthetic evaluation of the music would modulate brain connectivity networks related to emotion and reward processing. Participants listened to music under three conditions – one involving a non-evaluative judgment, one involving an explicit evaluative aesthetic judgment, and one involving no judgment at all (passive listening only). During non-evaluative attentive listening we obtained auditory-limbic connectivity whereas when participants were asked to decide explicitly whether they liked or disliked the music excerpt, only two clusters of intercommunicating brain regions were found: one including areas related to auditory processing and action observation, and the other comprising higher-order structures involved with visual processing. Results indicate that explicit evaluative judgment has an impact on the neural auditory-limbic connectivity during affective processing of music. PMID:29311874

  20. Auditory Spatial Layout

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wightman, Frederic L.; Jenison, Rick

    1995-01-01

    All auditory sensory information is packaged in a pair of acoustical pressure waveforms, one at each ear. While there is obvious structure in these waveforms, that structure (temporal and spectral patterns) bears no simple relationship to the structure of the environmental objects that produced them. The properties of auditory objects and their layout in space must be derived completely from higher level processing of the peripheral input. This chapter begins with a discussion of the peculiarities of acoustical stimuli and how they are received by the human auditory system. A distinction is made between the ambient sound field and the effective stimulus to differentiate the perceptual distinctions among various simple classes of sound sources (ambient field) from the known perceptual consequences of the linear transformations of the sound wave from source to receiver (effective stimulus). Next, the definition of an auditory object is dealt with, specifically the question of how the various components of a sound stream become segregated into distinct auditory objects. The remainder of the chapter focuses on issues related to the spatial layout of auditory objects, both stationary and moving.

  1. Multichannel auditory search: toward understanding control processes in polychotic auditory listening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, M D

    2001-01-01

    Two experiments are presented that serve as a framework for exploring auditory information processing. The framework is referred to as polychotic listening or auditory search, and it requires a listener to scan multiple simultaneous auditory streams for the appearance of a target word (the name of a letter such as A or M). Participants' ability to scan between two and six simultaneous auditory streams of letter and digit names for the name of a target letter was examined using six loudspeakers. The main independent variable was auditory load, or the number of active audio streams on a given trial. The primary dependent variables were target localization accuracy and reaction time. Results showed that as load increased, performance decreased. The performance decrease was evident in reaction time, accuracy, and sensitivity measures. The second study required participants to practice the same task for 10 sessions, for a total of 1800 trials. Results indicated that even with extensive practice, performance was still affected by auditory load. The present results are compared with findings in the visual search literature. The implications for the use of multiple auditory displays are discussed. Potential applications include cockpit and automobile warning displays, virtual reality systems, and training systems.

  2. Mutism and auditory agnosia due to bilateral insular damage--role of the insula in human communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Habib, M; Daquin, G; Milandre, L; Royere, M L; Rey, M; Lanteri, A; Salamon, G; Khalil, R

    1995-03-01

    We report a case of transient mutism and persistent auditory agnosia due to two successive ischemic infarcts mainly involving the insular cortex on both hemispheres. During the 'mutic' period, which lasted about 1 month, the patient did not respond to any auditory stimuli and made no effort to communicate. On follow-up examinations, language competences had re-appeared almost intact, but a massive auditory agnosia for non-verbal sounds was observed. From close inspection of lesion site, as determined with brain resonance imaging, and from a study of auditory evoked potentials, it is concluded that bilateral insular damage was crucial to both expressive and receptive components of the syndrome. The role of the insula in verbal and non-verbal communication is discussed in the light of anatomical descriptions of the pattern of connectivity of the insular cortex.

  3. Mapping thalamocortical network pathology in temporal lobe epilepsy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bernhardt, Boris C; Bernasconi, Neda; Kim, Hosung; Bernasconi, Andrea

    2012-01-10

    Although experimental work has provided evidence that the thalamus is a crucial relay structure in temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the relation of the thalamus to neocortical pathology remains unclear. To assess thalamocortical network pathology in TLE, we mapped pointwise patterns of thalamic atrophy and statistically related them to neocortical thinning. We studied cross-sectionally 36 patients with drug-resistant TLE and 19 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects using high-resolution MRI. To localize thalamic pathology, we converted manual labels into surface meshes using the spherical harmonic description and calculated local deformations relative to a template. In addition, we measured cortical thickness by means of the constrained Laplacian anatomic segmentation using proximity algorithm. Compared with control subjects, patients with TLE showed ipsilateral thalamic atrophy that was located along the medial surface, encompassing anterior, medial, and posterior divisions. Unbiased analysis correlating the degree of medial thalamic atrophy with cortical thickness measurements mapped bilateral frontocentral, lateral temporal, and mesiotemporal cortices. These areas overlapped with those of cortical thinning found when patients were compared with control subjects. Thalamic atrophy intensified with a longer duration of epilepsy and was more severe in patients with a history of febrile convulsions. The degree and distribution of thalamic pathology relates to the topography and extent of neocortical atrophy, lending support to the concept that the thalamus is an important hub in the pathologic network of TLE.

  4. Diminished auditory sensory gating during active auditory verbal hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoma, Robert J; Meier, Andrew; Houck, Jon; Clark, Vincent P; Lewine, Jeffrey D; Turner, Jessica; Calhoun, Vince; Stephen, Julia

    2017-10-01

    Auditory sensory gating, assessed in a paired-click paradigm, indicates the extent to which incoming stimuli are filtered, or "gated", in auditory cortex. Gating is typically computed as the ratio of the peak amplitude of the event related potential (ERP) to a second click (S2) divided by the peak amplitude of the ERP to a first click (S1). Higher gating ratios are purportedly indicative of incomplete suppression of S2 and considered to represent sensory processing dysfunction. In schizophrenia, hallucination severity is positively correlated with gating ratios, and it was hypothesized that a failure of sensory control processes early in auditory sensation (gating) may represent a larger system failure within the auditory data stream; resulting in auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH). EEG data were collected while patients (N=12) with treatment-resistant AVH pressed a button to indicate the beginning (AVH-on) and end (AVH-off) of each AVH during a paired click protocol. For each participant, separate gating ratios were computed for the P50, N100, and P200 components for each of the AVH-off and AVH-on states. AVH trait severity was assessed using the Psychotic Symptoms Rating Scales AVH Total score (PSYRATS). The results of a mixed model ANOVA revealed an overall effect for AVH state, such that gating ratios were significantly higher during the AVH-on state than during AVH-off for all three components. PSYRATS score was significantly and negatively correlated with N100 gating ratio only in the AVH-off state. These findings link onset of AVH with a failure of an empirically-defined auditory inhibition system, auditory sensory gating, and pave the way for a sensory gating model of AVH. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Effectiveness of auditory and tactile crossmodal cues in a dual-task visual and auditory scenario.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hopkins, Kevin; Kass, Steven J; Blalock, Lisa Durrance; Brill, J Christopher

    2017-05-01

    In this study, we examined how spatially informative auditory and tactile cues affected participants' performance on a visual search task while they simultaneously performed a secondary auditory task. Visual search task performance was assessed via reaction time and accuracy. Tactile and auditory cues provided the approximate location of the visual target within the search display. The inclusion of tactile and auditory cues improved performance in comparison to the no-cue baseline conditions. In comparison to the no-cue conditions, both tactile and auditory cues resulted in faster response times in the visual search only (single task) and visual-auditory (dual-task) conditions. However, the effectiveness of auditory and tactile cueing for visual task accuracy was shown to be dependent on task-type condition. Crossmodal cueing remains a viable strategy for improving task performance without increasing attentional load within a singular sensory modality. Practitioner Summary: Crossmodal cueing with dual-task performance has not been widely explored, yet has practical applications. We examined the effects of auditory and tactile crossmodal cues on visual search performance, with and without a secondary auditory task. Tactile cues aided visual search accuracy when also engaged in a secondary auditory task, whereas auditory cues did not.

  6. Coupling of Thalamocortical Sleep Oscillations Are Important for Memory Consolidation in Humans.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohammad Niknazar

    Full Text Available Sleep, specifically non-rapid eye movement (NREM sleep, is thought to play a critical role in the consolidation of recent memories. Two main oscillatory activities observed during NREM, cortical slow oscillations (SO, 0.5-1.0 Hz and thalamic spindles (12-15 Hz, have been shown to independently correlate with memory improvement. Yet, it is not known how these thalamocortical events interact, or the significance of this interaction, during the consolidation process. Here, we found that systemic administration of the GABAergic drug (zolpidem increased both the phase-amplitude coupling between SO and spindles, and verbal memory improvement in humans. These results suggest that thalamic spindles that occur during transitions to the cortical SO Up state are optimal for memory consolidation. Our study predicts that the timely interactions between cortical and thalamic events during consolidation, contribute to memory improvement and is mediated by the level of inhibitory neurotransmission.

  7. Attending to auditory memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zimmermann, Jacqueline F; Moscovitch, Morris; Alain, Claude

    2016-06-01

    Attention to memory describes the process of attending to memory traces when the object is no longer present. It has been studied primarily for representations of visual stimuli with only few studies examining attention to sound object representations in short-term memory. Here, we review the interplay of attention and auditory memory with an emphasis on 1) attending to auditory memory in the absence of related external stimuli (i.e., reflective attention) and 2) effects of existing memory on guiding attention. Attention to auditory memory is discussed in the context of change deafness, and we argue that failures to detect changes in our auditory environments are most likely the result of a faulty comparison system of incoming and stored information. Also, objects are the primary building blocks of auditory attention, but attention can also be directed to individual features (e.g., pitch). We review short-term and long-term memory guided modulation of attention based on characteristic features, location, and/or semantic properties of auditory objects, and propose that auditory attention to memory pathways emerge after sensory memory. A neural model for auditory attention to memory is developed, which comprises two separate pathways in the parietal cortex, one involved in attention to higher-order features and the other involved in attention to sensory information. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Predictive coding of visual-auditory and motor-auditory events: An electrophysiological study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stekelenburg, Jeroen J; Vroomen, Jean

    2015-11-11

    The amplitude of auditory components of the event-related potential (ERP) is attenuated when sounds are self-generated compared to externally generated sounds. This effect has been ascribed to internal forward modals predicting the sensory consequences of one's own motor actions. Auditory potentials are also attenuated when a sound is accompanied by a video of anticipatory visual motion that reliably predicts the sound. Here, we investigated whether the neural underpinnings of prediction of upcoming auditory stimuli are similar for motor-auditory (MA) and visual-auditory (VA) events using a stimulus omission paradigm. In the MA condition, a finger tap triggered the sound of a handclap whereas in the VA condition the same sound was accompanied by a video showing the handclap. In both conditions, the auditory stimulus was omitted in either 50% or 12% of the trials. These auditory omissions induced early and mid-latency ERP components (oN1 and oN2, presumably reflecting prediction and prediction error), and subsequent higher-order error evaluation processes. The oN1 and oN2 of MA and VA were alike in amplitude, topography, and neural sources despite that the origin of the prediction stems from different brain areas (motor versus visual cortex). This suggests that MA and VA predictions activate a sensory template of the sound in auditory cortex. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Prediction and Attention. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Lateralization effects on functional connectivity of the auditory network in patients with unilateral pulsatile tinnitus as detected by functional MRI.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lv, Han; Zhao, Pengfei; Liu, Zhaohui; Liu, Xuehuan; Ding, Heyu; Liu, Liheng; Wang, Guopeng; Xie, Jing; Zeng, Rong; Chen, Yuchen; Yang, Zhenghan; Gong, Shusheng; Wang, Zhenchang

    2018-02-02

    Unilateral pulsatile tinnitus (PT) was proved to be a kind of disease with brain functional abnormalities within and beyond the auditory network (AN). However, changes in patterns of the lateralization effects of PT are yet to be established. Relationship between the AN and other brain networks in PT patients is also a scientific question need to be answered. In this study, we recruited 23 left-sided, 23 right-sided PT (LSPT, RSPT) patients and 23 normal controls (NC). We combined applied independent component analysis and seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis to investigate alteration feature of the FC of the AN by using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Compared with NC, LSPT patients demonstrated disconnected FC within the AN on both sides. Disrupted network integrity between AN and several brain functional networks, including executive control network, self-perceptual network and the limbic network, was also demonstrated in LSPT patient group bilaterally. In contrast, compared with NC, RSPT demonstrated decreased FC within the AN on the left side, but significant increased FC within the AN on the right side (symptomatic side). Enhanced FC between AN and executive control network, self-perceptual network and limbic network was also found mainly on the right side in patients with RSPT. Positive FC between the auditory network and the limbic network may be a reason to explain why RSPT patients are willing to be in the clinic. Briefly, LSPT exhibit disrupted network integrity in brain functional networks. But RSPT is featured by enhanced FC within AN and between networks, especially on the right (symptomatic) side. Corroboration of featured FC helps to reveal the pathophysiological changing process of the brain in patients with PT, providing imaging-based biomarker to distinguish PT from other kind of tinnitus. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Hearing in action; auditory properties of neurones in the red nucleus of alert primates

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan Murray Lovell

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The response of neurones in the Red Nucleus pars magnocellularis (RNm to both tone bursts and electrical stimulation were observed in three cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis, in a series of studies primarily designed to characterise the influence of the dopaminergic ventral midbrain on auditory processing. Compared to its role in motor behaviour, little is known about the sensory response properties of neurons in the red nucleus; particularly those concerning the auditory modality. Sites in the RN were recognised by observing electrically evoked body movements characteristic for this deep brain structure. In this study we applied brief monopolar electrical stimulation to 118 deep brain sites at a maximum intensity of 200 µA, thus evoking minimal body movements. Auditory sensitivity of RN neurons was analysed more thoroughly at 15 sites, with the majority exhibiting broad tuning curves and phase locking up to 1.03 kHz. Since the RN appears to receive inputs from a very early stage of the ascending auditory system, our results suggest that sounds can modify the motor control exerted by this brain nucleus. At selected locations, we also tested for the presence of functional connections between the RN and the auditory cortex by inserting additional microelectrodes into the auditory cortex and investigating how action potentials and local field potentials were affected by electrical stimulation of the RN.

  11. The roles of superficial amygdala and auditory cortex in music-evoked fear and joy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koelsch, Stefan; Skouras, Stavros; Fritz, Thomas; Herrera, Perfecto; Bonhage, Corinna; Küssner, Mats B; Jacobs, Arthur M

    2013-11-01

    This study investigates neural correlates of music-evoked fear and joy with fMRI. Studies on neural correlates of music-evoked fear are scant, and there are only a few studies on neural correlates of joy in general. Eighteen individuals listened to excerpts of fear-evoking, joy-evoking, as well as neutral music and rated their own emotional state in terms of valence, arousal, fear, and joy. Results show that BOLD signal intensity increased during joy, and decreased during fear (compared to the neutral condition) in bilateral auditory cortex (AC) and bilateral superficial amygdala (SF). In the right primary somatosensory cortex (area 3b) BOLD signals increased during exposure to fear-evoking music. While emotion-specific activity in AC increased with increasing duration of each trial, SF responded phasically in the beginning of the stimulus, and then SF activity declined. Psychophysiological Interaction (PPI) analysis revealed extensive emotion-specific functional connectivity of AC with insula, cingulate cortex, as well as with visual, and parietal attentional structures. These findings show that the auditory cortex functions as a central hub of an affective-attentional network that is more extensive than previously believed. PPI analyses also showed functional connectivity of SF with AC during the joy condition, taken to reflect that SF is sensitive to social signals with positive valence. During fear music, SF showed functional connectivity with visual cortex and area 7 of the superior parietal lobule, taken to reflect increased visual alertness and an involuntary shift of attention during the perception of auditory signals of danger. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Development of the auditory system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Litovsky, Ruth

    2015-01-01

    Auditory development involves changes in the peripheral and central nervous system along the auditory pathways, and these occur naturally, and in response to stimulation. Human development occurs along a trajectory that can last decades, and is studied using behavioral psychophysics, as well as physiologic measurements with neural imaging. The auditory system constructs a perceptual space that takes information from objects and groups, segregates sounds, and provides meaning and access to communication tools such as language. Auditory signals are processed in a series of analysis stages, from peripheral to central. Coding of information has been studied for features of sound, including frequency, intensity, loudness, and location, in quiet and in the presence of maskers. In the latter case, the ability of the auditory system to perform an analysis of the scene becomes highly relevant. While some basic abilities are well developed at birth, there is a clear prolonged maturation of auditory development well into the teenage years. Maturation involves auditory pathways. However, non-auditory changes (attention, memory, cognition) play an important role in auditory development. The ability of the auditory system to adapt in response to novel stimuli is a key feature of development throughout the nervous system, known as neural plasticity. PMID:25726262

  13. Animal models for auditory streaming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Itatani, Naoya

    2017-01-01

    Sounds in the natural environment need to be assigned to acoustic sources to evaluate complex auditory scenes. Separating sources will affect the analysis of auditory features of sounds. As the benefits of assigning sounds to specific sources accrue to all species communicating acoustically, the ability for auditory scene analysis is widespread among different animals. Animal studies allow for a deeper insight into the neuronal mechanisms underlying auditory scene analysis. Here, we will review the paradigms applied in the study of auditory scene analysis and streaming of sequential sounds in animal models. We will compare the psychophysical results from the animal studies to the evidence obtained in human psychophysics of auditory streaming, i.e. in a task commonly used for measuring the capability for auditory scene analysis. Furthermore, the neuronal correlates of auditory streaming will be reviewed in different animal models and the observations of the neurons’ response measures will be related to perception. The across-species comparison will reveal whether similar demands in the analysis of acoustic scenes have resulted in similar perceptual and neuronal processing mechanisms in the wide range of species being capable of auditory scene analysis. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Auditory and visual scene analysis’. PMID:28044022

  14. Anatomical pathways for auditory memory II: information from rostral superior temporal gyrus to dorsolateral temporal pole and medial temporal cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muñoz-López, M; Insausti, R; Mohedano-Moriano, A; Mishkin, M; Saunders, R C

    2015-01-01

    Auditory recognition memory in non-human primates differs from recognition memory in other sensory systems. Monkeys learn the rule for visual and tactile delayed matching-to-sample within a few sessions, and then show one-trial recognition memory lasting 10-20 min. In contrast, monkeys require hundreds of sessions to master the rule for auditory recognition, and then show retention lasting no longer than 30-40 s. Moreover, unlike the severe effects of rhinal lesions on visual memory, such lesions have no effect on the monkeys' auditory memory performance. The anatomical pathways for auditory memory may differ from those in vision. Long-term visual recognition memory requires anatomical connections from the visual association area TE with areas 35 and 36 of the perirhinal cortex (PRC). We examined whether there is a similar anatomical route for auditory processing, or that poor auditory recognition memory may reflect the lack of such a pathway. Our hypothesis is that an auditory pathway for recognition memory originates in the higher order processing areas of the rostral superior temporal gyrus (rSTG), and then connects via the dorsolateral temporal pole to access the rhinal cortex of the medial temporal lobe. To test this, we placed retrograde (3% FB and 2% DY) and anterograde (10% BDA 10,000 mW) tracer injections in rSTG and the dorsolateral area 38 DL of the temporal pole. Results showed that area 38DL receives dense projections from auditory association areas Ts1, TAa, TPO of the rSTG, from the rostral parabelt and, to a lesser extent, from areas Ts2-3 and PGa. In turn, area 38DL projects densely to area 35 of PRC, entorhinal cortex (EC), and to areas TH/TF of the posterior parahippocampal cortex. Significantly, this projection avoids most of area 36r/c of PRC. This anatomical arrangement may contribute to our understanding of the poor auditory memory of rhesus monkeys.

  15. Increased precuneus connectivity during propofol sedation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiaolin; Li, Shi-Jiang; Hudetz, Anthony G

    2014-02-21

    Using functional magnetic resonance imaging in human participants, we show that sedation by propofol to the point of lost overt responsiveness during the performance of an auditory verbal memory task unexpectedly increases functional connectivity of the precuneus with cortical regions, particularly the dorsal prefrontal and visual cortices. After recovery of consciousness, functional connectivity returns to a pattern similar to that observed during the wakeful baseline. In the context of a recent proposal that highlights the uncoupling of consciousness, connectedness, and responsiveness in general anesthesia, the increased precuneus functional connectivity under propofol sedation may reflect disconnected endogenous mentation or dreaming that continues at a reduced level of metabolic activity. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Behavioral semantics of learning and crossmodal processing in auditory cortex: the semantic processor concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scheich, Henning; Brechmann, André; Brosch, Michael; Budinger, Eike; Ohl, Frank W; Selezneva, Elena; Stark, Holger; Tischmeyer, Wolfgang; Wetzel, Wolfram

    2011-01-01

    Two phenomena of auditory cortex activity have recently attracted attention, namely that the primary field can show different types of learning-related changes of sound representation and that during learning even this early auditory cortex is under strong multimodal influence. Based on neuronal recordings in animal auditory cortex during instrumental tasks, in this review we put forward the hypothesis that these two phenomena serve to derive the task-specific meaning of sounds by associative learning. To understand the implications of this tenet, it is helpful to realize how a behavioral meaning is usually derived for novel environmental sounds. For this purpose, associations with other sensory, e.g. visual, information are mandatory to develop a connection between a sound and its behaviorally relevant cause and/or the context of sound occurrence. This makes it plausible that in instrumental tasks various non-auditory sensory and procedural contingencies of sound generation become co-represented by neuronal firing in auditory cortex. Information related to reward or to avoidance of discomfort during task learning, that is essentially non-auditory, is also co-represented. The reinforcement influence points to the dopaminergic internal reward system, the local role of which for memory consolidation in auditory cortex is well-established. Thus, during a trial of task performance, the neuronal responses to the sounds are embedded in a sequence of representations of such non-auditory information. The embedded auditory responses show task-related modulations of auditory responses falling into types that correspond to three basic logical classifications that may be performed with a perceptual item, i.e. from simple detection to discrimination, and categorization. This hierarchy of classifications determine the semantic "same-different" relationships among sounds. Different cognitive classifications appear to be a consequence of learning task and lead to a recruitment of

  17. Differences in functional connectivity between alcohol dependence and internet gaming disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Ji Won; Han, Doug Hyun; Bolo, Nicolas; Kim, BoAh; Kim, Boong Nyun; Renshaw, Perry F

    2015-02-01

    Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and alcohol dependence (AD) have been reported to share clinical characteristics including craving and over-engagement despite negative consequences. However, there are also clinical factors that differ between individuals with IGD and those with AD in terms of chemical intoxication, prevalence age, and visual and auditory stimulation. We assessed brain functional connectivity within the prefrontal, striatum, and temporal lobe in 15 patients with IGD and in 16 patients with AD. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were assessed in patients with IGD and in patients with AD. Both AD and IGD subjects have positive functional connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), cingulate, and cerebellum. In addition, both groups have negative functional connectivity between the DLPFC and the orbitofrontal cortex. However, the AD subjects have positive functional connectivity between the DLPFC, temporal lobe and striatal areas while IGD subjects have negative functional connectivity between the DLPFC, temporal lobe and striatal areas. AD and IGD subjects may share deficits in executive function, including problems with self-control and adaptive responding. However, the negative connectivity between the DLPFC and the striatal areas in IGD subjects, different from the connectivity observed in AD subjects, may be due to the earlier prevalence age, different comorbid diseases as well as visual and auditory stimulation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Differences in functional connectivity between alcohol dependence and internet gaming disorder

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Ji Won; Han, Doug Hyun; Bolo, Nicolas; Kim, BoAh; Kim, Boong Nyun; Renshaw, Perry F.

    2017-01-01

    Introduction Internet gaming disorder (IGD) and alcohol dependence (AD) have been reported to share clinical characteristics including craving and over-engagement despite negative consequences. However, there are also clinical factors that differ between individuals with IGD and those with AD in terms of chemical intoxication, prevalence age, and visual and auditory stimulation. Methods We assessed brain functional connectivity within the prefrontal, striatum, and temporal lobe in 15 patients with IGD and in 16 patients with AD. Symptoms of depression, anxiety, and the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder were assessed in patients with IGD and in patients with AD. Results Both AD and IGD subjects have positive functional connectivity between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC), cingulate, and cerebellum. In addition, both groups have negative functional connectivity between the DLPFC and the orbitofrontal cortex. However, the AD subjects have positive functional connectivity between the DLPFC, temporal lobe and striatal areas while IGD subjects have negative functional connectivity between the DLPFC, temporal lobe and striatal areas. Conclusions AD and IGD subjects may share deficits in executive function, including problems with self-control and adaptive responding. However, the negative connectivity between the DLPFC and the striatal areas in IGD subjects, different from the connectivity observed in AD subjects, may be due to the earlier prevalence age, different comorbid diseases as well as visual and auditory stimulation. PMID:25282597

  19. Improvement of auditory hallucinations and reduction of primary auditory area's activation following TMS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Giesel, Frederik L.; Mehndiratta, Amit; Hempel, Albrecht; Hempel, Eckhard; Kress, Kai R.; Essig, Marco; Schröder, Johannes

    2012-01-01

    Background: In the present case study, improvement of auditory hallucinations following transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) therapy was investigated with respect to activation changes of the auditory cortices. Methods: Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), activation of the auditory cortices was assessed prior to and after a 4-week TMS series of the left superior temporal gyrus in a schizophrenic patient with medication-resistant auditory hallucinations. Results: Hallucinations decreased slightly after the third and profoundly after the fourth week of TMS. Activation in the primary auditory area decreased, whereas activation in the operculum and insula remained stable. Conclusions: Combination of TMS and repetitive fMRI is promising to elucidate the physiological changes induced by TMS.

  20. Retrosplenial Cortex Is Required for the Retrieval of Remote Memory for Auditory Cues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Todd, Travis P.; Mehlman, Max L.; Keene, Christopher S.; DeAngeli, Nicole E.; Bucci, David J.

    2016-01-01

    The retrosplenial cortex (RSC) has a well-established role in contextual and spatial learning and memory, consistent with its known connectivity with visuo-spatial association areas. In contrast, RSC appears to have little involvement with delay fear conditioning to an auditory cue. However, all previous studies have examined the contribution of…

  1. Auditory Perspective Taking

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Martinson, Eric; Brock, Derek

    2006-01-01

    .... From this knowledge of another's auditory perspective, a conversational partner can then adapt his or her auditory output to overcome a variety of environmental challenges and insure that what is said is intelligible...

  2. Brain Connectivity Networks and the Aesthetic Experience of Music.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reybrouck, Mark; Vuust, Peter; Brattico, Elvira

    2018-06-12

    Listening to music is above all a human experience, which becomes an aesthetic experience when an individual immerses himself/herself in the music, dedicating attention to perceptual-cognitive-affective interpretation and evaluation. The study of these processes where the individual perceives, understands, enjoys and evaluates a set of auditory stimuli has mainly been focused on the effect of music on specific brain structures, as measured with neurophysiology and neuroimaging techniques. The very recent application of network science algorithms to brain research allows an insight into the functional connectivity between brain regions. These studies in network neuroscience have identified distinct circuits that function during goal-directed tasks and resting states. We review recent neuroimaging findings which indicate that music listening is traceable in terms of network connectivity and activations of target regions in the brain, in particular between the auditory cortex, the reward brain system and brain regions active during mind wandering.

  3. Competition and convergence between auditory and cross-modal visual inputs to primary auditory cortical areas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mao, Yu-Ting; Hua, Tian-Miao

    2011-01-01

    Sensory neocortex is capable of considerable plasticity after sensory deprivation or damage to input pathways, especially early in development. Although plasticity can often be restorative, sometimes novel, ectopic inputs invade the affected cortical area. Invading inputs from other sensory modalities may compromise the original function or even take over, imposing a new function and preventing recovery. Using ferrets whose retinal axons were rerouted into auditory thalamus at birth, we were able to examine the effect of varying the degree of ectopic, cross-modal input on reorganization of developing auditory cortex. In particular, we assayed whether the invading visual inputs and the existing auditory inputs competed for or shared postsynaptic targets and whether the convergence of input modalities would induce multisensory processing. We demonstrate that although the cross-modal inputs create new visual neurons in auditory cortex, some auditory processing remains. The degree of damage to auditory input to the medial geniculate nucleus was directly related to the proportion of visual neurons in auditory cortex, suggesting that the visual and residual auditory inputs compete for cortical territory. Visual neurons were not segregated from auditory neurons but shared target space even on individual target cells, substantially increasing the proportion of multisensory neurons. Thus spatial convergence of visual and auditory input modalities may be sufficient to expand multisensory representations. Together these findings argue that early, patterned visual activity does not drive segregation of visual and auditory afferents and suggest that auditory function might be compromised by converging visual inputs. These results indicate possible ways in which multisensory cortical areas may form during development and evolution. They also suggest that rehabilitative strategies designed to promote recovery of function after sensory deprivation or damage need to take into

  4. Differential Recruitment of Auditory Cortices in the Consolidation of Recent Auditory Fearful Memories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cambiaghi, Marco; Grosso, Anna; Renna, Annamaria; Sacchetti, Benedetto

    2016-08-17

    Memories of frightening events require a protracted consolidation process. Sensory cortex, such as the auditory cortex, is involved in the formation of fearful memories with a more complex sensory stimulus pattern. It remains controversial, however, whether the auditory cortex is also required for fearful memories related to simple sensory stimuli. In the present study, we found that, 1 d after training, the temporary inactivation of either the most anterior region of the auditory cortex, including the primary (Te1) cortex, or the most posterior region, which included the secondary (Te2) component, did not affect the retention of recent memories, which is consistent with the current literature. However, at this time point, the inactivation of the entire auditory cortices completely prevented the formation of new memories. Amnesia was site specific and was not due to auditory stimuli perception or processing and strictly related to the interference with memory consolidation processes. Strikingly, at a late time interval 4 d after training, blocking the posterior part (encompassing the Te2) alone impaired memory retention, whereas the inactivation of the anterior part (encompassing the Te1) left memory unaffected. Together, these data show that the auditory cortex is necessary for the consolidation of auditory fearful memories related to simple tones in rats. Moreover, these results suggest that, at early time intervals, memory information is processed in a distributed network composed of both the anterior and the posterior auditory cortical regions, whereas, at late time intervals, memory processing is concentrated in the most posterior part containing the Te2 region. Memories of threatening experiences undergo a prolonged process of "consolidation" to be maintained for a long time. The dynamic of fearful memory consolidation is poorly understood. Here, we show that 1 d after learning, memory is processed in a distributed network composed of both primary Te1 and

  5. Automatic phoneme category selectivity in the dorsal auditory stream.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chevillet, Mark A; Jiang, Xiong; Rauschecker, Josef P; Riesenhuber, Maximilian

    2013-03-20

    Debates about motor theories of speech perception have recently been reignited by a burst of reports implicating premotor cortex (PMC) in speech perception. Often, however, these debates conflate perceptual and decision processes. Evidence that PMC activity correlates with task difficulty and subject performance suggests that PMC might be recruited, in certain cases, to facilitate category judgments about speech sounds (rather than speech perception, which involves decoding of sounds). However, it remains unclear whether PMC does, indeed, exhibit neural selectivity that is relevant for speech decisions. Further, it is unknown whether PMC activity in such cases reflects input via the dorsal or ventral auditory pathway, and whether PMC processing of speech is automatic or task-dependent. In a novel modified categorization paradigm, we presented human subjects with paired speech sounds from a phonetic continuum but diverted their attention from phoneme category using a challenging dichotic listening task. Using fMRI rapid adaptation to probe neural selectivity, we observed acoustic-phonetic selectivity in left anterior and left posterior auditory cortical regions. Conversely, we observed phoneme-category selectivity in left PMC that correlated with explicit phoneme-categorization performance measured after scanning, suggesting that PMC recruitment can account for performance on phoneme-categorization tasks. Structural equation modeling revealed connectivity from posterior, but not anterior, auditory cortex to PMC, suggesting a dorsal route for auditory input to PMC. Our results provide evidence for an account of speech processing in which the dorsal stream mediates automatic sensorimotor integration of speech and may be recruited to support speech decision tasks.

  6. Dynamic crossmodal links revealed by steady-state responses in auditory-visual divided attention.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Jong, Ritske; Toffanin, Paolo; Harbers, Marten

    2010-01-01

    Frequency tagging has been often used to study intramodal attention but not intermodal attention. We used EEG and simultaneous frequency tagging of auditory and visual sources to study intermodal focused and divided attention in detection and discrimination performance. Divided-attention costs were smaller, but still significant, in detection than in discrimination. The auditory steady-state response (SSR) showed no effects of attention at frontocentral locations, but did so at occipital locations where it was evident only when attention was divided between audition and vision. Similarly, the visual SSR at occipital locations was substantially enhanced when attention was divided across modalities. Both effects were equally present in detection and discrimination. We suggest that both effects reflect a common cause: An attention-dependent influence of auditory information processing on early cortical stages of visual information processing, mediated by enhanced effective connectivity between the two modalities under conditions of divided attention. Copyright (c) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Effect of handedness on auditory attentional performance in ADHD students

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    Schmidt SL

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Sergio L Schmidt,1,2 Ana Lucia Novais Carvaho,3 Eunice N Simoes2 1Department of Neurophysiology, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 2Neurology Department, Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, 3Department of Psychology, Fluminense Federal University, Niteroi, Brazil Abstract: The relationship between handedness and attentional performance is poorly understood. Continuous performance tests (CPTs using visual stimuli are commonly used to assess subjects suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD. However, auditory CPTs are considered more useful than visual ones to evaluate classroom attentional problems. A previous study reported that there was a significant effect of handedness on students’ performance on a visual CPT. Here, we examined whether handedness would also affect CPT performance using only auditory stimuli. From an initial sample of 337 students, 11 matched pairs were selected. Repeated ANOVAs showed a significant effect of handedness on attentional performance that was exhibited even in the control group. Left-handers made more commission errors than right-handers. The results were interpreted considering that the association between ADHD and handedness reflects that consistent left-handers are less lateralized and have decreased interhemispheric connections. Auditory attentional data suggest that left-handers have problems in the impulsive/hyperactivity domain. In ADHD, clinical therapeutics and rehabilitation must take handedness into account because consistent sinistrals are more impulsive than dextrals. Keywords: attention, ADHD, consistent left-handers, auditory attention, continuous performance test

  8. Manipulation of Auditory Inputs as Rehabilitation Therapy for Maladaptive Auditory Cortical Reorganization

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    Hidehiko Okamoto

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Neurophysiological and neuroimaging data suggest that the brains of not only children but also adults are reorganized based on sensory inputs and behaviors. Plastic changes in the brain are generally beneficial; however, maladaptive cortical reorganization in the auditory cortex may lead to hearing disorders such as tinnitus and hyperacusis. Recent studies attempted to noninvasively visualize pathological neural activity in the living human brain and reverse maladaptive cortical reorganization by the suitable manipulation of auditory inputs in order to alleviate detrimental auditory symptoms. The effects of the manipulation of auditory inputs on maladaptively reorganized brain were reviewed herein. The findings obtained indicate that rehabilitation therapy based on the manipulation of auditory inputs is an effective and safe approach for hearing disorders. The appropriate manipulation of sensory inputs guided by the visualization of pathological brain activities using recent neuroimaging techniques may contribute to the establishment of new clinical applications for affected individuals.

  9. Anatomical pathways for auditory memory II: Information from rostral superior temporal gyrus to dorsolateral temporal pole and medial temporal cortex.

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    Monica eMunoz-Lopez

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Auditory recognition memory in non-human primates differs from recognition memory in other sensory systems. Monkeys learn the rule for visual and tactile delayed matching-to-sample within a few sessions, and then show one-trial recognition memory lasting 10-20 minutes. In contrast, monkeys require hundreds of sessions to master the rule for auditory recognition, and then show retention lasting no longer than 30-40 seconds. Moreover, unlike the severe effects of rhinal lesions on visual memory, such lesions have no effect on the monkeys’ auditory memory performance. It is possible, therefore, that the anatomical pathways differ. Long-term visual recognition memory requires anatomical connections from the visual association area TE with areas 35 and 36 of the perirhinal cortex (PRC. We examined whether there is a similar anatomical route for auditory processing, or that poor auditory recognition memory may reflect the lack of such a pathway. Our hypothesis is that an auditory pathway for recognition memory originates in the higher order processing areas of the rostral superior temporal gyrus (rSTG, and then connects via the dorsolateral temporal pole to access the rhinal cortex of the medial temporal lobe. To test this, we placed retrograde (3% FB and 2% DY and anterograde (10% BDA 10,000 MW tracer injections in rSTG and the dorsolateral area 38DL of the temporal pole. Results showed that area 38DL receives dense projections from auditory association areas Ts1, TAa, TPO of the rSTG, from the rostral parabelt and, to a lesser extent, from areas Ts2-3 and PGa. In turn, area 38DL projects densely to area 35 of PRC, entorhinal cortex, and to areas TH/TF of the posterior parahippocampal cortex. Significantly, this projection avoids most of area 36r/c of PRC. This anatomical arrangement may contribute to our understanding of the poor auditory memory of rhesus monkeys.

  10. Auditory temporal preparation induced by rhythmic cues during concurrent auditory working memory tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cutanda, Diana; Correa, Ángel; Sanabria, Daniel

    2015-06-01

    The present study investigated whether participants can develop temporal preparation driven by auditory isochronous rhythms when concurrently performing an auditory working memory (WM) task. In Experiment 1, participants had to respond to an auditory target presented after a regular or an irregular sequence of auditory stimuli while concurrently performing a Sternberg-type WM task. Results showed that participants responded faster after regular compared with irregular rhythms and that this effect was not affected by WM load; however, the lack of a significant main effect of WM load made it difficult to draw any conclusion regarding the influence of the dual-task manipulation in Experiment 1. In order to enhance dual-task interference, Experiment 2 combined the auditory rhythm procedure with an auditory N-Back task, which required WM updating (monitoring and coding of the information) and was presumably more demanding than the mere rehearsal of the WM task used in Experiment 1. Results now clearly showed dual-task interference effects (slower reaction times [RTs] in the high- vs. the low-load condition). However, such interference did not affect temporal preparation induced by rhythms, with faster RTs after regular than after irregular sequences in the high-load and low-load conditions. These results revealed that secondary tasks demanding memory updating, relative to tasks just demanding rehearsal, produced larger interference effects on overall RTs in the auditory rhythm task. Nevertheless, rhythm regularity exerted a strong temporal preparation effect that survived the interference of the WM task even when both tasks competed for processing resources within the auditory modality. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

  11. Short-term plasticity in auditory cognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jääskeläinen, Iiro P; Ahveninen, Jyrki; Belliveau, John W; Raij, Tommi; Sams, Mikko

    2007-12-01

    Converging lines of evidence suggest that auditory system short-term plasticity can enable several perceptual and cognitive functions that have been previously considered as relatively distinct phenomena. Here we review recent findings suggesting that auditory stimulation, auditory selective attention and cross-modal effects of visual stimulation each cause transient excitatory and (surround) inhibitory modulations in the auditory cortex. These modulations might adaptively tune hierarchically organized sound feature maps of the auditory cortex (e.g. tonotopy), thus filtering relevant sounds during rapidly changing environmental and task demands. This could support auditory sensory memory, pre-attentive detection of sound novelty, enhanced perception during selective attention, influence of visual processing on auditory perception and longer-term plastic changes associated with perceptual learning.

  12. Auditory Processing Disorder (For Parents)

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... role. Auditory cohesion problems: This is when higher-level listening tasks are difficult. Auditory cohesion skills — drawing inferences from conversations, understanding riddles, or comprehending verbal math problems — require heightened auditory processing and language levels. ...

  13. The Effect of Working Memory Training on Auditory Stream Segregation in Auditory Processing Disorders Children

    OpenAIRE

    Abdollah Moossavi; Saeideh Mehrkian; Yones Lotfi; Soghrat Faghih zadeh; Hamed Adjedi

    2015-01-01

    Objectives: This study investigated the efficacy of working memory training for improving working memory capacity and related auditory stream segregation in auditory processing disorders children. Methods: Fifteen subjects (9-11 years), clinically diagnosed with auditory processing disorder participated in this non-randomized case-controlled trial. Working memory abilities and auditory stream segregation were evaluated prior to beginning and six weeks after completing the training program...

  14. Different types of laughter modulate connectivity within distinct parts of the laughter perception network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wildgruber, Dirk; Szameitat, Diana P; Ethofer, Thomas; Brück, Carolin; Alter, Kai; Grodd, Wolfgang; Kreifelts, Benjamin

    2013-01-01

    Laughter is an ancient signal of social communication among humans and non-human primates. Laughter types with complex social functions (e.g., taunt and joy) presumably evolved from the unequivocal and reflex-like social bonding signal of tickling laughter already present in non-human primates. Here, we investigated the modulations of cerebral connectivity associated with different laughter types as well as the effects of attention shifts between implicit and explicit processing of social information conveyed by laughter using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Complex social laughter types and tickling laughter were found to modulate connectivity in two distinguishable but partially overlapping parts of the laughter perception network irrespective of task instructions. Connectivity changes, presumably related to the higher acoustic complexity of tickling laughter, occurred between areas in the prefrontal cortex and the auditory association cortex, potentially reflecting higher demands on acoustic analysis associated with increased information load on auditory attention, working memory, evaluation and response selection processes. In contrast, the higher degree of socio-relational information in complex social laughter types was linked to increases of connectivity between auditory association cortices, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and brain areas associated with mentalizing as well as areas in the visual associative cortex. These modulations might reflect automatic analysis of acoustic features, attention direction to informative aspects of the laughter signal and the retention of those in working memory during evaluation processes. These processes may be associated with visual imagery supporting the formation of inferences on the intentions of our social counterparts. Here, the right dorsolateral precentral cortex appears as a network node potentially linking the functions of auditory and visual associative sensory cortices with those of the

  15. Different types of laughter modulate connectivity within distinct parts of the laughter perception network.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dirk Wildgruber

    Full Text Available Laughter is an ancient signal of social communication among humans and non-human primates. Laughter types with complex social functions (e.g., taunt and joy presumably evolved from the unequivocal and reflex-like social bonding signal of tickling laughter already present in non-human primates. Here, we investigated the modulations of cerebral connectivity associated with different laughter types as well as the effects of attention shifts between implicit and explicit processing of social information conveyed by laughter using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. Complex social laughter types and tickling laughter were found to modulate connectivity in two distinguishable but partially overlapping parts of the laughter perception network irrespective of task instructions. Connectivity changes, presumably related to the higher acoustic complexity of tickling laughter, occurred between areas in the prefrontal cortex and the auditory association cortex, potentially reflecting higher demands on acoustic analysis associated with increased information load on auditory attention, working memory, evaluation and response selection processes. In contrast, the higher degree of socio-relational information in complex social laughter types was linked to increases of connectivity between auditory association cortices, the right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and brain areas associated with mentalizing as well as areas in the visual associative cortex. These modulations might reflect automatic analysis of acoustic features, attention direction to informative aspects of the laughter signal and the retention of those in working memory during evaluation processes. These processes may be associated with visual imagery supporting the formation of inferences on the intentions of our social counterparts. Here, the right dorsolateral precentral cortex appears as a network node potentially linking the functions of auditory and visual associative sensory cortices

  16. Modularity in Sensory Auditory Memory

    OpenAIRE

    Clement, Sylvain; Moroni, Christine; Samson, Séverine

    2004-01-01

    The goal of this paper was to review various experimental and neuropsychological studies that support the modular conception of auditory sensory memory or auditory short-term memory. Based on initial findings demonstrating that verbal sensory memory system can be dissociated from a general auditory memory store at the functional and anatomical levels. we reported a series of studies that provided evidence in favor of multiple auditory sensory stores specialized in retaining eit...

  17. Beneficial auditory and cognitive effects of auditory brainstem implantation in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colletti, Liliana

    2007-09-01

    This preliminary study demonstrates the development of hearing ability and shows that there is a significant improvement in some cognitive parameters related to selective visual/spatial attention and to fluid or multisensory reasoning, in children fitted with auditory brainstem implantation (ABI). The improvement in cognitive paramenters is due to several factors, among which there is certainly, as demonstrated in the literature on a cochlear implants (CIs), the activation of the auditory sensory canal, which was previously absent. The findings of the present study indicate that children with cochlear or cochlear nerve abnormalities with associated cognitive deficits should not be excluded from ABI implantation. The indications for ABI have been extended over the last 10 years to adults with non-tumoral (NT) cochlear or cochlear nerve abnormalities that cannot benefit from CI. We demonstrated that the ABI with surface electrodes may provide sufficient stimulation of the central auditory system in adults for open set speech recognition. These favourable results motivated us to extend ABI indications to children with profound hearing loss who were not candidates for a CI. This study investigated the performances of young deaf children undergoing ABI, in terms of their auditory perceptual development and their non-verbal cognitive abilities. In our department from 2000 to 2006, 24 children aged 14 months to 16 years received an ABI for different tumour and non-tumour diseases. Two children had NF2 tumours. Eighteen children had bilateral cochlear nerve aplasia. In this group, nine children had associated cochlear malformations, two had unilateral facial nerve agenesia and two had combined microtia, aural atresia and middle ear malformations. Four of these children had previously been fitted elsewhere with a CI with no auditory results. One child had bilateral incomplete cochlear partition (type II); one child, who had previously been fitted unsuccessfully elsewhere

  18. What determines auditory distraction? On the roles of local auditory changes and expectation violations.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jan P Röer

    Full Text Available Both the acoustic variability of a distractor sequence and the degree to which it violates expectations are important determinants of auditory distraction. In four experiments we examined the relative contribution of local auditory changes on the one hand and expectation violations on the other hand in the disruption of serial recall by irrelevant sound. We present evidence for a greater disruption by auditory sequences ending in unexpected steady state distractor repetitions compared to auditory sequences with expected changing state endings even though the former contained fewer local changes. This effect was demonstrated with piano melodies (Experiment 1 and speech distractors (Experiment 2. Furthermore, it was replicated when the expectation violation occurred after the encoding of the target items (Experiment 3, indicating that the items' maintenance in short-term memory was disrupted by attentional capture and not their encoding. This seems to be primarily due to the violation of a model of the specific auditory distractor sequences because the effect vanishes and even reverses when the experiment provides no opportunity to build up a specific neural model about the distractor sequence (Experiment 4. Nevertheless, the violation of abstract long-term knowledge about auditory regularities seems to cause a small and transient capture effect: Disruption decreased markedly over the course of the experiments indicating that participants habituated to the unexpected distractor repetitions across trials. The overall pattern of results adds to the growing literature that the degree to which auditory distractors violate situation-specific expectations is a more important determinant of auditory distraction than the degree to which a distractor sequence contains local auditory changes.

  19. Auditory-visual integration in fields of the auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubota, Michinori; Sugimoto, Shunji; Hosokawa, Yutaka; Ojima, Hisayuki; Horikawa, Junsei

    2017-03-01

    While multimodal interactions have been known to exist in the early sensory cortices, the response properties and spatiotemporal organization of these interactions are poorly understood. To elucidate the characteristics of multimodal sensory interactions in the cerebral cortex, neuronal responses to visual stimuli with or without auditory stimuli were investigated in core and belt fields of guinea pig auditory cortex using real-time optical imaging with a voltage-sensitive dye. On average, visual responses consisted of short excitation followed by long inhibition. Although visual responses were observed in core and belt fields, there were regional and temporal differences in responses. The most salient visual responses were observed in the caudal belt fields, especially posterior (P) and dorsocaudal belt (DCB) fields. Visual responses emerged first in fields P and DCB and then spread rostroventrally to core and ventrocaudal belt (VCB) fields. Absolute values of positive and negative peak amplitudes of visual responses were both larger in fields P and DCB than in core and VCB fields. When combined visual and auditory stimuli were applied, fields P and DCB were more inhibited than core and VCB fields beginning approximately 110 ms after stimuli. Correspondingly, differences between responses to auditory stimuli alone and combined audiovisual stimuli became larger in fields P and DCB than in core and VCB fields after approximately 110 ms after stimuli. These data indicate that visual influences are most salient in fields P and DCB, which manifest mainly as inhibition, and that they enhance differences in auditory responses among fields. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Assessing the aging effect on auditory-verbal memory by Persian version of dichotic auditory verbal memory test

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    Zahra Shahidipour

    2014-01-01

    Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, significant reduction in auditory memory was seen in aged group and the Persian version of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test, like many other auditory verbal memory tests, showed the aging effects on auditory verbal memory performance.

  1. [Assessment of the efficiency of the auditory training in children with dyslalia and auditory processing disorders].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Włodarczyk, Elżbieta; Szkiełkowska, Agata; Skarżyński, Henryk; Piłka, Adam

    2011-01-01

    To assess effectiveness of the auditory training in children with dyslalia and central auditory processing disorders. Material consisted of 50 children aged 7-9-years-old. Children with articulation disorders stayed under long-term speech therapy care in the Auditory and Phoniatrics Clinic. All children were examined by a laryngologist and a phoniatrician. Assessment included tonal and impedance audiometry and speech therapists' and psychologist's consultations. Additionally, a set of electrophysiological examinations was performed - registration of N2, P2, N2, P2, P300 waves and psychoacoustic test of central auditory functions: FPT - frequency pattern test. Next children took part in the regular auditory training and attended speech therapy. Speech assessment followed treatment and therapy, again psychoacoustic tests were performed and P300 cortical potentials were recorded. After that statistical analyses were performed. Analyses revealed that application of auditory training in patients with dyslalia and other central auditory disorders is very efficient. Auditory training may be a very efficient therapy supporting speech therapy in children suffering from dyslalia coexisting with articulation and central auditory disorders and in children with educational problems of audiogenic origin. Copyright © 2011 Polish Otolaryngology Society. Published by Elsevier Urban & Partner (Poland). All rights reserved.

  2. Auditory Integration Training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Jafari

    2002-07-01

    Full Text Available Auditory integration training (AIT is a hearing enhancement training process for sensory input anomalies found in individuals with autism, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, dyslexia, hyperactivity, learning disability, language impairments, pervasive developmental disorder, central auditory processing disorder, attention deficit disorder, depressin, and hyperacute hearing. AIT, recently introduced in the United States, and has received much notice of late following the release of The Sound of a Moracle, by Annabel Stehli. In her book, Mrs. Stehli describes before and after auditory integration training experiences with her daughter, who was diagnosed at age four as having autism.

  3. Local field potential correlates of auditory working memory in primate dorsal temporal pole.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bigelow, James; Ng, Chi-Wing; Poremba, Amy

    2016-06-01

    Dorsal temporal pole (dTP) is a cortical region at the rostral end of the superior temporal gyrus that forms part of the ventral auditory object processing pathway. Anatomical connections with frontal and medial temporal areas, as well as a recent single-unit recording study, suggest this area may be an important part of the network underlying auditory working memory (WM). To further elucidate the role of dTP in auditory WM, local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded from the left dTP region of two rhesus macaques during an auditory delayed matching-to-sample (DMS) task. Sample and test sounds were separated by a 5-s retention interval, and a behavioral response was required only if the sounds were identical (match trials). Sensitivity of auditory evoked responses in dTP to behavioral significance and context was further tested by passively presenting the sounds used as auditory WM memoranda both before and after the DMS task. Average evoked potentials (AEPs) for all cue types and phases of the experiment comprised two small-amplitude early onset components (N20, P40), followed by two broad, large-amplitude components occupying the remainder of the stimulus period (N120, P300), after which a final set of components were observed following stimulus offset (N80OFF, P170OFF). During the DMS task, the peak amplitude and/or latency of several of these components depended on whether the sound was presented as the sample or test, and whether the test matched the sample. Significant differences were also observed among the DMS task and passive exposure conditions. Comparing memory-related effects in the LFP signal with those obtained in the spiking data raises the possibility some memory-related activity in dTP may be locally produced and actively generated. The results highlight the involvement of dTP in auditory stimulus identification and recognition and its sensitivity to the behavioral significance of sounds in different contexts. This article is part of a Special

  4. EEG phase reset due to auditory attention: an inverse time-scale approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Low, Yin Fen; Strauss, Daniel J

    2009-01-01

    We propose a novel tool to evaluate the electroencephalograph (EEG) phase reset due to auditory attention by utilizing an inverse analysis of the instantaneous phase for the first time. EEGs were acquired through auditory attention experiments with a maximum entropy stimulation paradigm. We examined single sweeps of auditory late response (ALR) with the complex continuous wavelet transform. The phase in the frequency band that is associated with auditory attention (6–10 Hz, termed as theta–alpha border) was reset to the mean phase of the averaged EEGs. The inverse transform was applied to reconstruct the phase-modified signal. We found significant enhancement of the N100 wave in the reconstructed signal. Analysis of the phase noise shows the effects of phase jittering on the generation of the N100 wave implying that a preferred phase is necessary to generate the event-related potential (ERP). Power spectrum analysis shows a remarkable increase of evoked power but little change of total power after stabilizing the phase of EEGs. Furthermore, by resetting the phase only at the theta border of no attention data to the mean phase of attention data yields a result that resembles attention data. These results show strong connections between EEGs and ERP, in particular, we suggest that the presentation of an auditory stimulus triggers the phase reset process at the theta–alpha border which leads to the emergence of the N100 wave. It is concluded that our study reinforces other studies on the importance of the EEG in ERP genesis

  5. EEG phase reset due to auditory attention: an inverse time-scale approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Low, Yin Fen; Strauss, Daniel J

    2009-08-01

    We propose a novel tool to evaluate the electroencephalograph (EEG) phase reset due to auditory attention by utilizing an inverse analysis of the instantaneous phase for the first time. EEGs were acquired through auditory attention experiments with a maximum entropy stimulation paradigm. We examined single sweeps of auditory late response (ALR) with the complex continuous wavelet transform. The phase in the frequency band that is associated with auditory attention (6-10 Hz, termed as theta-alpha border) was reset to the mean phase of the averaged EEGs. The inverse transform was applied to reconstruct the phase-modified signal. We found significant enhancement of the N100 wave in the reconstructed signal. Analysis of the phase noise shows the effects of phase jittering on the generation of the N100 wave implying that a preferred phase is necessary to generate the event-related potential (ERP). Power spectrum analysis shows a remarkable increase of evoked power but little change of total power after stabilizing the phase of EEGs. Furthermore, by resetting the phase only at the theta border of no attention data to the mean phase of attention data yields a result that resembles attention data. These results show strong connections between EEGs and ERP, in particular, we suggest that the presentation of an auditory stimulus triggers the phase reset process at the theta-alpha border which leads to the emergence of the N100 wave. It is concluded that our study reinforces other studies on the importance of the EEG in ERP genesis.

  6. Speaking-related changes in cortical functional connectivity associated with assisted and spontaneous recovery from developmental stuttering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kell, Christian A; Neumann, Katrin; Behrens, Marion; von Gudenberg, Alexander W; Giraud, Anne-Lise

    2018-03-01

    We previously reported speaking-related activity changes associated with assisted recovery induced by a fluency shaping therapy program and unassisted recovery from developmental stuttering (Kell et al., Brain 2009). While assisted recovery re-lateralized activity to the left hemisphere, unassisted recovery was specifically associated with the activation of the left BA 47/12 in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex. These findings suggested plastic changes in speaking-related functional connectivity between left hemispheric speech network nodes. We reanalyzed these data involving 13 stuttering men before and after fluency shaping, 13 men who recovered spontaneously from their stuttering, and 13 male control participants, and examined functional connectivity during overt vs. covert reading by means of psychophysiological interactions computed across left cortical regions involved in articulation control. Persistent stuttering was associated with reduced auditory-motor coupling and enhanced integration of somatosensory feedback between the supramarginal gyrus and the prefrontal cortex. Assisted recovery reduced this hyper-connectivity and increased functional connectivity between the articulatory motor cortex and the auditory feedback processing anterior superior temporal gyrus. In spontaneous recovery, both auditory-motor coupling and integration of somatosensory feedback were normalized. In addition, activity in the left orbitofrontal cortex and superior cerebellum appeared uncoupled from the rest of the speech production network. These data suggest that therapy and spontaneous recovery normalizes the left hemispheric speaking-related activity via an improvement of auditory-motor mapping. By contrast, long-lasting unassisted recovery from stuttering is additionally supported by a functional isolation of the superior cerebellum from the rest of the speech production network, through the pivotal left BA 47/12. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  7. Peripheral Sensory Deprivation Restores Critical-Period-like Plasticity to Adult Somatosensory Thalamocortical Inputs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seungsoo Chung

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Recent work has shown that thalamocortical (TC inputs can be plastic after the developmental critical period has closed, but the mechanism that enables re-establishment of plasticity is unclear. Here, we find that long-term potentiation (LTP at TC inputs is transiently restored in spared barrel cortex following either a unilateral infra-orbital nerve (ION lesion, unilateral whisker trimming, or unilateral ablation of the rodent barrel cortex. Restoration of LTP is associated with increased potency at TC input and reactivates anatomical map plasticity induced by whisker follicle ablation. The reactivation of TC LTP is accompanied by reappearance of silent synapses. Both LTP and silent synapse formation are preceded by transient re-expression of synaptic GluN2B-containing N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA receptors, which are required for the reappearance of TC plasticity. These results clearly demonstrate that peripheral sensory deprivation reactivates synaptic plasticity in the mature layer 4 barrel cortex with features similar to the developmental critical period.

  8. Thalamocortical network activity enables chronic tic detection in humans with Tourette syndrome

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonathan B. Shute

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Tourette syndrome (TS is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics. Deep brain stimulation (DBS is an emerging therapy for severe cases of TS. We studied two patients with TS implanted with bilateral Medtronic Activa PC + S DBS devices, capable of chronic recordings, with depth leads in the thalamic centromedian–parafascicular complex (CM-PF and subdural strips over the precentral gyrus. Low-frequency (1–10 Hz CM-PF activity was observed during tics, as well as modulations in beta rhythms over the motor cortex. Tics were divided into three categories: long complex, complex, and simple. Long complex tics, tics involving multiple body regions and lasting longer than 5 s, were concurrent with a highly detectable thalamocortical signature (average recall [sensitivity] 88.6%, average precision 96.3%. Complex tics were detected with an average recall of 63.9% and precision of 36.6% and simple tics an average recall of 39.3% and precision of 37.9%. The detections were determined using data from both patients.

  9. Thalamocortical network activity enables chronic tic detection in humans with Tourette syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shute, Jonathan B; Okun, Michael S; Opri, Enrico; Molina, Rene; Rossi, P Justin; Martinez-Ramirez, Daniel; Foote, Kelly D; Gunduz, Aysegul

    2016-01-01

    Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by multiple motor and vocal tics. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is an emerging therapy for severe cases of TS. We studied two patients with TS implanted with bilateral Medtronic Activa PC + S DBS devices, capable of chronic recordings, with depth leads in the thalamic centromedian-parafascicular complex (CM-PF) and subdural strips over the precentral gyrus. Low-frequency (1-10 Hz) CM-PF activity was observed during tics, as well as modulations in beta rhythms over the motor cortex. Tics were divided into three categories: long complex, complex, and simple. Long complex tics, tics involving multiple body regions and lasting longer than 5 s, were concurrent with a highly detectable thalamocortical signature (average recall [sensitivity] 88.6%, average precision 96.3%). Complex tics were detected with an average recall of 63.9% and precision of 36.6% and simple tics an average recall of 39.3% and precision of 37.9%. The detections were determined using data from both patients.

  10. Amygdala and auditory cortex exhibit distinct sensitivity to relevant acoustic features of auditory emotions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pannese, Alessia; Grandjean, Didier; Frühholz, Sascha

    2016-12-01

    Discriminating between auditory signals of different affective value is critical to successful social interaction. It is commonly held that acoustic decoding of such signals occurs in the auditory system, whereas affective decoding occurs in the amygdala. However, given that the amygdala receives direct subcortical projections that bypass the auditory cortex, it is possible that some acoustic decoding occurs in the amygdala as well, when the acoustic features are relevant for affective discrimination. We tested this hypothesis by combining functional neuroimaging with the neurophysiological phenomena of repetition suppression (RS) and repetition enhancement (RE) in human listeners. Our results show that both amygdala and auditory cortex responded differentially to physical voice features, suggesting that the amygdala and auditory cortex decode the affective quality of the voice not only by processing the emotional content from previously processed acoustic features, but also by processing the acoustic features themselves, when these are relevant to the identification of the voice's affective value. Specifically, we found that the auditory cortex is sensitive to spectral high-frequency voice cues when discriminating vocal anger from vocal fear and joy, whereas the amygdala is sensitive to vocal pitch when discriminating between negative vocal emotions (i.e., anger and fear). Vocal pitch is an instantaneously recognized voice feature, which is potentially transferred to the amygdala by direct subcortical projections. These results together provide evidence that, besides the auditory cortex, the amygdala too processes acoustic information, when this is relevant to the discrimination of auditory emotions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Absence of both auditory evoked potentials and auditory percepts dependent on timing cues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Starr, A; McPherson, D; Patterson, J; Don, M; Luxford, W; Shannon, R; Sininger, Y; Tonakawa, L; Waring, M

    1991-06-01

    An 11-yr-old girl had an absence of sensory components of auditory evoked potentials (brainstem, middle and long-latency) to click and tone burst stimuli that she could clearly hear. Psychoacoustic tests revealed a marked impairment of those auditory perceptions dependent on temporal cues, that is, lateralization of binaural clicks, change of binaural masked threshold with changes in signal phase, binaural beats, detection of paired monaural clicks, monaural detection of a silent gap in a sound, and monaural threshold elevation for short duration tones. In contrast, auditory functions reflecting intensity or frequency discriminations (difference limens) were only minimally impaired. Pure tone audiometry showed a moderate (50 dB) bilateral hearing loss with a disproportionate severe loss of word intelligibility. Those auditory evoked potentials that were preserved included (1) cochlear microphonics reflecting hair cell activity; (2) cortical sustained potentials reflecting processing of slowly changing signals; and (3) long-latency cognitive components (P300, processing negativity) reflecting endogenous auditory cognitive processes. Both the evoked potential and perceptual deficits are attributed to changes in temporal encoding of acoustic signals perhaps occurring at the synapse between hair cell and eighth nerve dendrites. The results from this patient are discussed in relation to previously published cases with absent auditory evoked potentials and preserved hearing.

  12. Musical experience shapes top-down auditory mechanisms: evidence from masking and auditory attention performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strait, Dana L; Kraus, Nina; Parbery-Clark, Alexandra; Ashley, Richard

    2010-03-01

    A growing body of research suggests that cognitive functions, such as attention and memory, drive perception by tuning sensory mechanisms to relevant acoustic features. Long-term musical experience also modulates lower-level auditory function, although the mechanisms by which this occurs remain uncertain. In order to tease apart the mechanisms that drive perceptual enhancements in musicians, we posed the question: do well-developed cognitive abilities fine-tune auditory perception in a top-down fashion? We administered a standardized battery of perceptual and cognitive tests to adult musicians and non-musicians, including tasks either more or less susceptible to cognitive control (e.g., backward versus simultaneous masking) and more or less dependent on auditory or visual processing (e.g., auditory versus visual attention). Outcomes indicate lower perceptual thresholds in musicians specifically for auditory tasks that relate with cognitive abilities, such as backward masking and auditory attention. These enhancements were observed in the absence of group differences for the simultaneous masking and visual attention tasks. Our results suggest that long-term musical practice strengthens cognitive functions and that these functions benefit auditory skills. Musical training bolsters higher-level mechanisms that, when impaired, relate to language and literacy deficits. Thus, musical training may serve to lessen the impact of these deficits by strengthening the corticofugal system for hearing. 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Developmental programming of auditory learning

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    Melania Puddu

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available The basic structures involved in the development of auditory function and consequently in language acquisition are directed by genetic code, but the expression of individual genes may be altered by exposure to environmental factors, which if favorable, orient it in the proper direction, leading its development towards normality, if unfavorable, they deviate it from its physiological course. Early sensorial experience during the foetal period (i.e. intrauterine noise floor, sounds coming from the outside and attenuated by the uterine filter, particularly mother’s voice and modifications induced by it at the cochlear level represent the first example of programming in one of the earliest critical periods in development of the auditory system. This review will examine the factors that influence the developmental programming of auditory learning from the womb to the infancy. In particular it focuses on the following points: the prenatal auditory experience and the plastic phenomena presumably induced by it in the auditory system from the basilar membrane to the cortex;the involvement of these phenomena on language acquisition and on the perception of language communicative intention after birth;the consequences of auditory deprivation in critical periods of auditory development (i.e. premature interruption of foetal life.

  14. Auditory short-term memory in the primate auditory cortex

    OpenAIRE

    Scott, Brian H.; Mishkin, Mortimer

    2015-01-01

    Sounds are fleeting, and assembling the sequence of inputs at the ear into a coherent percept requires auditory memory across various time scales. Auditory short-term memory comprises at least two components: an active ���working memory��� bolstered by rehearsal, and a sensory trace that may be passively retained. Working memory relies on representations recalled from long-term memory, and their rehearsal may require phonological mechanisms unique to humans. The sensory component, passive sho...

  15. Integration of auditory and visual speech information

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hall, M.; Smeele, P.M.T.; Kuhl, P.K.

    1998-01-01

    The integration of auditory and visual speech is observed when modes specify different places of articulation. Influences of auditory variation on integration were examined using consonant identifi-cation, plus quality and similarity ratings. Auditory identification predicted auditory-visual

  16. Auditory Dysfunction in Patients with Cerebrovascular Disease

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    Sadaharu Tabuchi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Auditory dysfunction is a common clinical symptom that can induce profound effects on the quality of life of those affected. Cerebrovascular disease (CVD is the most prevalent neurological disorder today, but it has generally been considered a rare cause of auditory dysfunction. However, a substantial proportion of patients with stroke might have auditory dysfunction that has been underestimated due to difficulties with evaluation. The present study reviews relationships between auditory dysfunction and types of CVD including cerebral infarction, intracerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebrovascular malformation, moyamoya disease, and superficial siderosis. Recent advances in the etiology, anatomy, and strategies to diagnose and treat these conditions are described. The numbers of patients with CVD accompanied by auditory dysfunction will increase as the population ages. Cerebrovascular diseases often include the auditory system, resulting in various types of auditory dysfunctions, such as unilateral or bilateral deafness, cortical deafness, pure word deafness, auditory agnosia, and auditory hallucinations, some of which are subtle and can only be detected by precise psychoacoustic and electrophysiological testing. The contribution of CVD to auditory dysfunction needs to be understood because CVD can be fatal if overlooked.

  17. From Hearing Sounds to Recognizing Phonemes: Primary Auditory Cortex is A Truly Perceptual Language Area

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    Byron Bernal

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available The aim of this article is to present a systematic review about the anatomy, function, connectivity, and functional activation of the primary auditory cortex (PAC (Brodmann areas 41/42 when involved in language paradigms. PAC activates with a plethora of diverse basic stimuli including but not limited to tones, chords, natural sounds, consonants, and speech. Nonetheless, the PAC shows specific sensitivity to speech. Damage in the PAC is associated with so-called “pure word-deafness” (“auditory verbal agnosia”. BA41, and to a lesser extent BA42, are involved in early stages of phonological processing (phoneme recognition. Phonological processing may take place in either the right or left side, but customarily the left exerts an inhibitory tone over the right, gaining dominance in function. BA41/42 are primary auditory cortices harboring complex phoneme perception functions with asymmetrical expression, making it possible to include them as core language processing areas (Wernicke’s area.

  18. Weak responses to auditory feedback perturbation during articulation in persons who stutter: evidence for abnormal auditory-motor transformation.

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    Shanqing Cai

    Full Text Available Previous empirical observations have led researchers to propose that auditory feedback (the auditory perception of self-produced sounds when speaking functions abnormally in the speech motor systems of persons who stutter (PWS. Researchers have theorized that an important neural basis of stuttering is the aberrant integration of auditory information into incipient speech motor commands. Because of the circumstantial support for these hypotheses and the differences and contradictions between them, there is a need for carefully designed experiments that directly examine auditory-motor integration during speech production in PWS. In the current study, we used real-time manipulation of auditory feedback to directly investigate whether the speech motor system of PWS utilizes auditory feedback abnormally during articulation and to characterize potential deficits of this auditory-motor integration. Twenty-one PWS and 18 fluent control participants were recruited. Using a short-latency formant-perturbation system, we examined participants' compensatory responses to unanticipated perturbation of auditory feedback of the first formant frequency during the production of the monophthong [ε]. The PWS showed compensatory responses that were qualitatively similar to the controls' and had close-to-normal latencies (∼150 ms, but the magnitudes of their responses were substantially and significantly smaller than those of the control participants (by 47% on average, p<0.05. Measurements of auditory acuity indicate that the weaker-than-normal compensatory responses in PWS were not attributable to a deficit in low-level auditory processing. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that stuttering is associated with functional defects in the inverse models responsible for the transformation from the domain of auditory targets and auditory error information into the domain of speech motor commands.

  19. Integration of Visual Information in Auditory Cortex Promotes Auditory Scene Analysis through Multisensory Binding.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Atilgan, Huriye; Town, Stephen M; Wood, Katherine C; Jones, Gareth P; Maddox, Ross K; Lee, Adrian K C; Bizley, Jennifer K

    2018-02-07

    How and where in the brain audio-visual signals are bound to create multimodal objects remains unknown. One hypothesis is that temporal coherence between dynamic multisensory signals provides a mechanism for binding stimulus features across sensory modalities. Here, we report that when the luminance of a visual stimulus is temporally coherent with the amplitude fluctuations of one sound in a mixture, the representation of that sound is enhanced in auditory cortex. Critically, this enhancement extends to include both binding and non-binding features of the sound. We demonstrate that visual information conveyed from visual cortex via the phase of the local field potential is combined with auditory information within auditory cortex. These data provide evidence that early cross-sensory binding provides a bottom-up mechanism for the formation of cross-sensory objects and that one role for multisensory binding in auditory cortex is to support auditory scene analysis. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Interaction of language, auditory and memory brain networks in auditory verbal hallucinations

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Curcic-Blake, Branislava; Ford, Judith M.; Hubl, Daniela; Orlov, Natasza D.; Sommer, Iris E.; Waters, Flavie; Allen, Paul; Jardri, Renaud; Woodruff, Peter W.; David, Olivier; Mulert, Christoph; Woodward, Todd S.; Aleman, Andre

    Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) occur in psychotic disorders, but also as a symptom of other conditions and even in healthy people. Several current theories on the origin of AVH converge, with neuroimaging studies suggesting that the language, auditory and memory/limbic networks are of

  1. Procedures for central auditory processing screening in schoolchildren.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carvalho, Nádia Giulian de; Ubiali, Thalita; Amaral, Maria Isabel Ramos do; Santos, Maria Francisca Colella

    2018-03-22

    Central auditory processing screening in schoolchildren has led to debates in literature, both regarding the protocol to be used and the importance of actions aimed at prevention and promotion of auditory health. Defining effective screening procedures for central auditory processing is a challenge in Audiology. This study aimed to analyze the scientific research on central auditory processing screening and discuss the effectiveness of the procedures utilized. A search was performed in the SciELO and PUBMed databases by two researchers. The descriptors used in Portuguese and English were: auditory processing, screening, hearing, auditory perception, children, auditory tests and their respective terms in Portuguese. original articles involving schoolchildren, auditory screening of central auditory skills and articles in Portuguese or English. studies with adult and/or neonatal populations, peripheral auditory screening only, and duplicate articles. After applying the described criteria, 11 articles were included. At the international level, central auditory processing screening methods used were: screening test for auditory processing disorder and its revised version, screening test for auditory processing, scale of auditory behaviors, children's auditory performance scale and Feather Squadron. In the Brazilian scenario, the procedures used were the simplified auditory processing assessment and Zaidan's battery of tests. At the international level, the screening test for auditory processing and Feather Squadron batteries stand out as the most comprehensive evaluation of hearing skills. At the national level, there is a paucity of studies that use methods evaluating more than four skills, and are normalized by age group. The use of simplified auditory processing assessment and questionnaires can be complementary in the search for an easy access and low-cost alternative in the auditory screening of Brazilian schoolchildren. Interactive tools should be proposed, that

  2. Auditory prediction during speaking and listening.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sato, Marc; Shiller, Douglas M

    2018-02-02

    In the present EEG study, the role of auditory prediction in speech was explored through the comparison of auditory cortical responses during active speaking and passive listening to the same acoustic speech signals. Two manipulations of sensory prediction accuracy were used during the speaking task: (1) a real-time change in vowel F1 feedback (reducing prediction accuracy relative to unaltered feedback) and (2) presenting a stable auditory target rather than a visual cue to speak (enhancing auditory prediction accuracy during baseline productions, and potentially enhancing the perturbing effect of altered feedback). While subjects compensated for the F1 manipulation, no difference between the auditory-cue and visual-cue conditions were found. Under visually-cued conditions, reduced N1/P2 amplitude was observed during speaking vs. listening, reflecting a motor-to-sensory prediction. In addition, a significant correlation was observed between the magnitude of behavioral compensatory F1 response and the magnitude of this speaking induced suppression (SIS) for P2 during the altered auditory feedback phase, where a stronger compensatory decrease in F1 was associated with a stronger the SIS effect. Finally, under the auditory-cued condition, an auditory repetition-suppression effect was observed in N1/P2 amplitude during the listening task but not active speaking, suggesting that auditory predictive processes during speaking and passive listening are functionally distinct. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Altered resting state cortico-striatal connectivity in mild to moderate stage Parkinson’s disease

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    Youngbin Kwak

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available Parkinson’s disease (PD is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that is characterized by dopamine depletion in the striatum. One consistent pathophysiological hallmark of PD is an increase in spontaneous oscillatory activity in the basal ganglia thalamocortical networks. We evaluated these effects using resting state functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI in mild to moderate stage Parkinson’s patients on and off L-DOPA and age-matched controls using six different striatal seed regions. We observed an overall increase in the strength of cortico-striatal functional connectivity in PD patients off L-DOPA compared to controls. This enhanced connectivity was down-regulated by L-DOPA as shown by an overall decrease in connectivity strength, particularly within motor cortical regions. We also performed a frequency content analysis of the BOLD signal time course extracted from the six striatal seed regions. PD off L-DOPA exhibited increased power in the frequency band 0.02 – 0.05 Hz compared to controls and to PD on L-DOPA. The L-DOPA associated decrease in the power of this frequency range modulated the L-DOPA associated decrease in connectivity strength between striatal seeds and the thalamus. In addition, the L-DOPA associated decrease in power in this frequency band also correlated with the L-DOPA associated improvement in cognitive performance. Our results demonstrate that PD and L-DOPA modulate striatal resting state BOLD signal oscillations and corticostriatal network coherence.

  4. Adaptation in the auditory system: an overview

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    David ePérez-González

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available The early stages of the auditory system need to preserve the timing information of sounds in order to extract the basic features of acoustic stimuli. At the same time, different processes of neuronal adaptation occur at several levels to further process the auditory information. For instance, auditory nerve fiber responses already experience adaptation of their firing rates, a type of response that can be found in many other auditory nuclei and may be useful for emphasizing the onset of the stimuli. However, it is at higher levels in the auditory hierarchy where more sophisticated types of neuronal processing take place. For example, stimulus-specific adaptation, where neurons show adaptation to frequent, repetitive stimuli, but maintain their responsiveness to stimuli with different physical characteristics, thus representing a distinct kind of processing that may play a role in change and deviance detection. In the auditory cortex, adaptation takes more elaborate forms, and contributes to the processing of complex sequences, auditory scene analysis and attention. Here we review the multiple types of adaptation that occur in the auditory system, which are part of the pool of resources that the neurons employ to process the auditory scene, and are critical to a proper understanding of the neuronal mechanisms that govern auditory perception.

  5. Transient and sustained cortical activity elicited by connected speech of varying intelligibility

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    Tiitinen Hannu

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The robustness of speech perception in the face of acoustic variation is founded on the ability of the auditory system to integrate the acoustic features of speech and to segregate them from background noise. This auditory scene analysis process is facilitated by top-down mechanisms, such as recognition memory for speech content. However, the cortical processes underlying these facilitatory mechanisms remain unclear. The present magnetoencephalography (MEG study examined how the activity of auditory cortical areas is modulated by acoustic degradation and intelligibility of connected speech. The experimental design allowed for the comparison of cortical activity patterns elicited by acoustically identical stimuli which were perceived as either intelligible or unintelligible. Results In the experiment, a set of sentences was presented to the subject in distorted, undistorted, and again in distorted form. The intervening exposure to undistorted versions of sentences rendered the initially unintelligible, distorted sentences intelligible, as evidenced by an increase from 30% to 80% in the proportion of sentences reported as intelligible. These perceptual changes were reflected in the activity of the auditory cortex, with the auditory N1m response (~100 ms being more prominent for the distorted stimuli than for the intact ones. In the time range of auditory P2m response (>200 ms, auditory cortex as well as regions anterior and posterior to this area generated a stronger response to sentences which were intelligible than unintelligible. During the sustained field (>300 ms, stronger activity was elicited by degraded stimuli in auditory cortex and by intelligible sentences in areas posterior to auditory cortex. Conclusions The current findings suggest that the auditory system comprises bottom-up and top-down processes which are reflected in transient and sustained brain activity. It appears that analysis of acoustic features occurs

  6. Speech processing: from peripheral to hemispheric asymmetry of the auditory system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lazard, Diane S; Collette, Jean-Louis; Perrot, Xavier

    2012-01-01

    Language processing from the cochlea to auditory association cortices shows side-dependent specificities with an apparent left hemispheric dominance. The aim of this article was to propose to nonspeech specialists a didactic review of two complementary theories about hemispheric asymmetry in speech processing. Starting from anatomico-physiological and clinical observations of auditory asymmetry and interhemispheric connections, this review then exposes behavioral (dichotic listening paradigm) as well as functional (functional magnetic resonance imaging and positron emission tomography) experiments that assessed hemispheric specialization for speech processing. Even though speech at an early phonological level is regarded as being processed bilaterally, a left-hemispheric dominance exists for higher-level processing. This asymmetry may arise from a segregation of the speech signal, broken apart within nonprimary auditory areas in two distinct temporal integration windows--a fast one on the left and a slower one on the right--modeled through the asymmetric sampling in time theory or a spectro-temporal trade-off, with a higher temporal resolution in the left hemisphere and a higher spectral resolution in the right hemisphere, modeled through the spectral/temporal resolution trade-off theory. Both theories deal with the concept that lower-order tuning principles for acoustic signal might drive higher-order organization for speech processing. However, the precise nature, mechanisms, and origin of speech processing asymmetry are still being debated. Finally, an example of hemispheric asymmetry alteration, which has direct clinical implications, is given through the case of auditory aging that mixes peripheral disorder and modifications of central processing. Copyright © 2011 The American Laryngological, Rhinological, and Otological Society, Inc.

  7. Tactile feedback improves auditory spatial localization

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    Monica eGori

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Our recent studies suggest that congenitally blind adults have severely impaired thresholds in an auditory spatial-bisection task, pointing to the importance of vision in constructing complex auditory spatial maps (Gori et al., 2014. To explore strategies that may improve the auditory spatial sense in visually impaired people, we investigated the impact of tactile feedback on spatial auditory localization in 48 blindfolded sighted subjects. We measured auditory spatial bisection thresholds before and after training, either with tactile feedback, verbal feedback or no feedback. Audio thresholds were first measured with a spatial bisection task: subjects judged whether the second sound of a three sound sequence was spatially closer to the first or the third sound. The tactile-feedback group underwent two audio-tactile feedback sessions of 100 trials, where each auditory trial was followed by the same spatial sequence played on the subject’s forearm; auditory spatial bisection thresholds were evaluated after each session. In the verbal-feedback condition, the positions of the sounds were verbally reported to the subject after each feedback trial. The no-feedback group did the same sequence of trials, with no feedback. Performance improved significantly only after audio-tactile feedback. The results suggest that direct tactile feedback interacts with the auditory spatial localization system, possibly by a process of cross-sensory recalibration. Control tests with the subject rotated suggested that this effect occurs only when the tactile and acoustic sequences are spatially coherent. Our results suggest that the tactile system can be used to recalibrate the auditory sense of space. These results encourage the possibility of designing rehabilitation programs to help blind persons establish a robust auditory sense of space, through training with the tactile modality.

  8. Cross-modal attention influences auditory contrast sensitivity: Decreasing visual load improves auditory thresholds for amplitude- and frequency-modulated sounds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ciaramitaro, Vivian M; Chow, Hiu Mei; Eglington, Luke G

    2017-03-01

    We used a cross-modal dual task to examine how changing visual-task demands influenced auditory processing, namely auditory thresholds for amplitude- and frequency-modulated sounds. Observers had to attend to two consecutive intervals of sounds and report which interval contained the auditory stimulus that was modulated in amplitude (Experiment 1) or frequency (Experiment 2). During auditory-stimulus presentation, observers simultaneously attended to a rapid sequential visual presentation-two consecutive intervals of streams of visual letters-and had to report which interval contained a particular color (low load, demanding less attentional resources) or, in separate blocks of trials, which interval contained more of a target letter (high load, demanding more attentional resources). We hypothesized that if attention is a shared resource across vision and audition, an easier visual task should free up more attentional resources for auditory processing on an unrelated task, hence improving auditory thresholds. Auditory detection thresholds were lower-that is, auditory sensitivity was improved-for both amplitude- and frequency-modulated sounds when observers engaged in a less demanding (compared to a more demanding) visual task. In accord with previous work, our findings suggest that visual-task demands can influence the processing of auditory information on an unrelated concurrent task, providing support for shared attentional resources. More importantly, our results suggest that attending to information in a different modality, cross-modal attention, can influence basic auditory contrast sensitivity functions, highlighting potential similarities between basic mechanisms for visual and auditory attention.

  9. Auditory preferences of young children with and without hearing loss for meaningful auditory-visual compound stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zupan, Barbra; Sussman, Joan E

    2009-01-01

    Experiment 1 examined modality preferences in children and adults with normal hearing to combined auditory-visual stimuli. Experiment 2 compared modality preferences in children using cochlear implants participating in an auditory emphasized therapy approach to the children with normal hearing from Experiment 1. A second objective in both experiments was to evaluate the role of familiarity in these preferences. Participants were exposed to randomized blocks of photographs and sounds of ten familiar and ten unfamiliar animals in auditory-only, visual-only and auditory-visual trials. Results indicated an overall auditory preference in children, regardless of hearing status, and a visual preference in adults. Familiarity only affected modality preferences in adults who showed a strong visual preference to unfamiliar stimuli only. The similar degree of auditory responses in children with hearing loss to those from children with normal hearing is an original finding and lends support to an auditory emphasis for habilitation. Readers will be able to (1) Describe the pattern of modality preferences reported in young children without hearing loss; (2) Recognize that differences in communication mode may affect modality preferences in young children with hearing loss; and (3) Understand the role of familiarity in modality preferences in children with and without hearing loss.

  10. Abnormal thalamocortical activity in patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) type I.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walton, K D; Dubois, M; Llinás, R R

    2010-07-01

    Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a neuropathic disease that presents a continuing challenge in terms of pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment. Recent studies of neuropathic pain, in both animals and patients, have established a direct relationship between abnormal thalamic rhythmicity related to Thalamo-cortical Dysrhythmia (TCD) and the occurrence of central pain. Here, this relationship has been examined using magneto-encephalographic (MEG) imaging in CRPS Type I, characterized by the absence of nerve lesions. The study addresses spontaneous MEG activity from 13 awake, adult patients (2 men, 11 women; age 15-62), with CRPS Type I of one extremity (duration range: 3months to 10years) and from 13 control subjects. All CRPS I patients demonstrated peaks in power spectrum in the delta (CRPS Type I patients presented abnormal brain activity typical of TCD, which has both diagnostic value indicating a central origin for this ailment and a potential treatment interest involving pharmacological and electrical stimulation therapies. Copyright 2010 International Association for the Study of Pain. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. The Relationship between Types of Attention and Auditory Processing Skills: Reconsidering Auditory Processing Disorder Diagnosis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stavrinos, Georgios; Iliadou, Vassiliki-Maria; Edwards, Lindsey; Sirimanna, Tony; Bamiou, Doris-Eva

    2018-01-01

    Measures of attention have been found to correlate with specific auditory processing tests in samples of children suspected of Auditory Processing Disorder (APD), but these relationships have not been adequately investigated. Despite evidence linking auditory attention and deficits/symptoms of APD, measures of attention are not routinely used in APD diagnostic protocols. The aim of the study was to examine the relationship between auditory and visual attention tests and auditory processing tests in children with APD and to assess whether a proposed diagnostic protocol for APD, including measures of attention, could provide useful information for APD management. A pilot study including 27 children, aged 7–11 years, referred for APD assessment was conducted. The validated test of everyday attention for children, with visual and auditory attention tasks, the listening in spatialized noise sentences test, the children's communication checklist questionnaire and tests from a standard APD diagnostic test battery were administered. Pearson's partial correlation analysis examining the relationship between these tests and Cochrane's Q test analysis comparing proportions of diagnosis under each proposed battery were conducted. Divided auditory and divided auditory-visual attention strongly correlated with the dichotic digits test, r = 0.68, p attention battery identified as having Attention Deficits (ADs). The proposed APD battery excluding AD cases did not have a significantly different diagnosis proportion than the standard APD battery. Finally, the newly proposed diagnostic battery, identifying an inattentive subtype of APD, identified five children who would have otherwise been considered not having ADs. The findings show that a subgroup of children with APD demonstrates underlying sustained and divided attention deficits. Attention deficits in children with APD appear to be centred around the auditory modality but further examination of types of attention in both

  12. Auditory interfaces: The human perceiver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colburn, H. Steven

    1991-01-01

    A brief introduction to the basic auditory abilities of the human perceiver with particular attention toward issues that may be important for the design of auditory interfaces is presented. The importance of appropriate auditory inputs to observers with normal hearing is probably related to the role of hearing as an omnidirectional, early warning system and to its role as the primary vehicle for communication of strong personal feelings.

  13. High field FMRI reveals thalamocortical integration of segregated cognitive and emotional processing in mediodorsal and intralaminar thalamic nuclei.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metzger, C D; Eckert, U; Steiner, J; Sartorius, A; Buchmann, J E; Stadler, J; Tempelmann, C; Speck, O; Bogerts, B; Abler, B; Walter, M

    2010-01-01

    Thalamocortical loops, connecting functionally segregated, higher order cortical regions, and basal ganglia, have been proposed not only for well described motor and sensory regions, but also for limbic and prefrontal areas relevant for affective and cognitive processes. These functions are, however, more specific to humans, rendering most invasive neuroanatomical approaches impossible and interspecies translations difficult. In contrast, non-invasive imaging of functional neuroanatomy using fMRI allows for the development of elaborate task paradigms capable of testing the specific functionalities proposed for these circuits. Until recently, spatial resolution largely limited the anatomical definition of functional clusters at the level of distinct thalamic nuclei. Since their anatomical distinction seems crucial not only for the segregation of cognitive and limbic loops but also for the detection of their functional interaction during cognitive-emotional integration, we applied high resolution fMRI on 7 Tesla. Using an event-related design, we could isolate thalamic effects for preceding attention as well as experience of erotic stimuli. We could demonstrate specific thalamic effects of general emotional arousal in mediodorsal nucleus and effects specific to preceding attention and expectancy in intralaminar centromedian/parafascicular complex. These thalamic effects were paralleled by specific coactivations in the head of caudate nucleus as well as segregated portions of rostral or caudal cingulate cortex and anterior insula supporting distinct thalamo-striato-cortical loops. In addition to predescribed effects of sexual arousal in hypothalamus and ventral striatum, high resolution fMRI could extent this network to paraventricular thalamus encompassing laterodorsal and parataenial nuclei. We could lend evidence to segregated subcortical loops which integrate cognitive and emotional aspects of basic human behavior such as sexual processing.

  14. Review: Auditory Integration Training

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zahra Ja'fari

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Auditory integration training (AIT is a hearing enhancement training process for sensory input anomalies found in individuals with autism, attention deficit hyperactive disorder, dyslexia, hyperactivity, learning disability, language impairments, pervasive developmental disorder, central auditory processing disorder, attention deficit disorder, depression, and hyper acute hearing. AIT, recently introduced in the United States, and has received much notice of late following the release of the sound of a miracle, by Annabel Stehli. In her book, Mrs. Stehli describes before and after auditory integration training experiences with her daughter, who was diagnosed at age four as having autism.

  15. Neuronal Correlates of Auditory Streaming in Monkey Auditory Cortex for Tone Sequences without Spectral Differences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stanislava Knyazeva

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This study finds a neuronal correlate of auditory perceptual streaming in the primary auditory cortex for sequences of tone complexes that have the same amplitude spectrum but a different phase spectrum. Our finding is based on microelectrode recordings of multiunit activity from 270 cortical sites in three awake macaque monkeys. The monkeys were presented with repeated sequences of a tone triplet that consisted of an A tone, a B tone, another A tone and then a pause. The A and B tones were composed of unresolved harmonics formed by adding the harmonics in cosine phase, in alternating phase, or in random phase. A previous psychophysical study on humans revealed that when the A and B tones are similar, humans integrate them into a single auditory stream; when the A and B tones are dissimilar, humans segregate them into separate auditory streams. We found that the similarity of neuronal rate responses to the triplets was highest when all A and B tones had cosine phase. Similarity was intermediate when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had alternating phase. Similarity was lowest when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had random phase. The present study corroborates and extends previous reports, showing similar correspondences between neuronal activity in the primary auditory cortex and auditory streaming of sound sequences. It also is consistent with Fishman’s population separation model of auditory streaming.

  16. Neuronal Correlates of Auditory Streaming in Monkey Auditory Cortex for Tone Sequences without Spectral Differences.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knyazeva, Stanislava; Selezneva, Elena; Gorkin, Alexander; Aggelopoulos, Nikolaos C; Brosch, Michael

    2018-01-01

    This study finds a neuronal correlate of auditory perceptual streaming in the primary auditory cortex for sequences of tone complexes that have the same amplitude spectrum but a different phase spectrum. Our finding is based on microelectrode recordings of multiunit activity from 270 cortical sites in three awake macaque monkeys. The monkeys were presented with repeated sequences of a tone triplet that consisted of an A tone, a B tone, another A tone and then a pause. The A and B tones were composed of unresolved harmonics formed by adding the harmonics in cosine phase, in alternating phase, or in random phase. A previous psychophysical study on humans revealed that when the A and B tones are similar, humans integrate them into a single auditory stream; when the A and B tones are dissimilar, humans segregate them into separate auditory streams. We found that the similarity of neuronal rate responses to the triplets was highest when all A and B tones had cosine phase. Similarity was intermediate when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had alternating phase. Similarity was lowest when the A tones had cosine phase and the B tones had random phase. The present study corroborates and extends previous reports, showing similar correspondences between neuronal activity in the primary auditory cortex and auditory streaming of sound sequences. It also is consistent with Fishman's population separation model of auditory streaming.

  17. Neurofeedback-Based Enhancement of Single-Trial Auditory Evoked Potentials: Treatment of Auditory Verbal Hallucinations in Schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rieger, Kathryn; Rarra, Marie-Helene; Diaz Hernandez, Laura; Hubl, Daniela; Koenig, Thomas

    2018-03-01

    Auditory verbal hallucinations depend on a broad neurobiological network ranging from the auditory system to language as well as memory-related processes. As part of this, the auditory N100 event-related potential (ERP) component is attenuated in patients with schizophrenia, with stronger attenuation occurring during auditory verbal hallucinations. Changes in the N100 component assumingly reflect disturbed responsiveness of the auditory system toward external stimuli in schizophrenia. With this premise, we investigated the therapeutic utility of neurofeedback training to modulate the auditory-evoked N100 component in patients with schizophrenia and associated auditory verbal hallucinations. Ten patients completed electroencephalography neurofeedback training for modulation of N100 (treatment condition) or another unrelated component, P200 (control condition). On a behavioral level, only the control group showed a tendency for symptom improvement in the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale total score in a pre-/postcomparison ( t (4) = 2.71, P = .054); however, no significant differences were found in specific hallucination related symptoms ( t (7) = -0.53, P = .62). There was no significant overall effect of neurofeedback training on ERP components in our paradigm; however, we were able to identify different learning patterns, and found a correlation between learning and improvement in auditory verbal hallucination symptoms across training sessions ( r = 0.664, n = 9, P = .05). This effect results, with cautious interpretation due to the small sample size, primarily from the treatment group ( r = 0.97, n = 4, P = .03). In particular, a within-session learning parameter showed utility for predicting symptom improvement with neurofeedback training. In conclusion, patients with schizophrenia and associated auditory verbal hallucinations who exhibit a learning pattern more characterized by within-session aptitude may benefit from electroencephalography neurofeedback

  18. Human dorsal and ventral auditory streams subserve rehearsal-based and echoic processes during verbal working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buchsbaum, Bradley R; Olsen, Rosanna K; Koch, Paul; Berman, Karen Faith

    2005-11-23

    To hear a sequence of words and repeat them requires sensory-motor processing and something more-temporary storage. We investigated neural mechanisms of verbal memory by using fMRI and a task designed to tease apart perceptually based ("echoic") memory from phonological-articulatory memory. Sets of two- or three-word pairs were presented bimodally, followed by a cue indicating from which modality (auditory or visual) items were to be retrieved and rehearsed over a delay. Although delay-period activation in the planum temporale (PT) was insensible to the source modality and showed sustained delay-period activity, the superior temporal gyrus (STG) activated more vigorously when the retrieved items had arrived to the auditory modality and showed transient delay-period activity. Functional connectivity analysis revealed two topographically distinct fronto-temporal circuits, with STG co-activating more strongly with ventrolateral prefrontal cortex and PT co-activating more strongly with dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. These argue for separate contributions of ventral and dorsal auditory streams in verbal working memory.

  19. Change in brain network connectivity during PACAP38-induced migraine attacks

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Amin, Faisal Mohammad; Hougaard, Anders; Magon, Stefano

    2016-01-01

    OBJECTIVE: To investigate resting-state functional connectivity in the salience network (SN), the sensorimotor network (SMN), and the default mode network (DMN) during migraine attacks induced by pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating polypeptide-38 (PACAP38). METHODS: In a double-blind, randomized...... connectivity with the bilateral opercular part of the inferior frontal gyrus in the SN. In SMN, there was increased connectivity with the right premotor cortex and decreased connectivity with the left visual cortex. Several areas showed increased (left primary auditory, secondary somatosensory, premotor......, and visual cortices) and decreased (right cerebellum and left frontal lobe) connectivity with DMN. We found no resting-state network changes after VIP (n = 15). CONCLUSIONS: PACAP38-induced migraine attack is associated with altered connectivity of several large-scale functional networks of the brain....

  20. Differences in neurogenesis differentiate between core and shell regions of auditory nuclei in the turtle (Pelodiscus sinensis): evolutionary implications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Shao-Ju; Xi, Chao; Zhang, Xin-Wen; Zuo, Ming-Xue

    2007-01-01

    There is a clear core-versus-shell distinction in cytoarchitecture, electrophysiological properties and neural connections in the mesencephalic and diencephalic auditory nuclei of amniotes. Determining whether the embryogenesis of auditory nuclei shows a similar organization is helpful for further understanding the constituent organization and evolution of auditory nuclei. Therefore in the present study, we injected [(3)H]-thymidine into turtle embryos (Pelodiscus sinensis) at various stages of development. Upon hatching, [(3)H]-thymidine labeling was examined in both the core and shell auditory regions in the midbrain, diencephalon and dorsal ventricular ridge. Met-enkephalin and substance P immunohistochemistry was used to distinguish the core and shell regions. In the mesencephalic auditory nucleus, the occurrence of heavily labeled neurons in the nucleus centralis of the torus semicircularis reached its peak at embryonic day 9, one day later than the surrounding shell. In the diencephalic auditory nucleus, the production of heavily labeled neurons in the central region of the reuniens (Re) was highest at embryonic day (E) 8, one day later than that in the shell region of reuniens. In the region of the dorsal ventricular ridge that received inputs from the central region of Re, the appearance of heavily labeled neurons also reached a peak one day later than that in the area receiving inputs from the shell region of reuniens. Thus, there is a core-versus-shell organization of neuronal generation in reptilian auditory areas. Copyright (c) 2007 S. Karger AG, Basel.

  1. Pre-Attentive Auditory Processing of Lexicality

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobsen, Thomas; Horvath, Janos; Schroger, Erich; Lattner, Sonja; Widmann, Andreas; Winkler, Istvan

    2004-01-01

    The effects of lexicality on auditory change detection based on auditory sensory memory representations were investigated by presenting oddball sequences of repeatedly presented stimuli, while participants ignored the auditory stimuli. In a cross-linguistic study of Hungarian and German participants, stimulus sequences were composed of words that…

  2. Plasticity in the Primary Auditory Cortex, Not What You Think it is: Implications for Basic and Clinical Auditory Neuroscience

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weinberger, Norman M.

    2013-01-01

    Standard beliefs that the function of the primary auditory cortex (A1) is the analysis of sound have proven to be incorrect. Its involvement in learning, memory and other complex processes in both animals and humans is now well-established, although often not appreciated. Auditory coding is strongly modifed by associative learning, evident as associative representational plasticity (ARP) in which the representation of an acoustic dimension, like frequency, is re-organized to emphasize a sound that has become behaviorally important. For example, the frequency tuning of a cortical neuron can be shifted to match that of a significant sound and the representational area of sounds that acquire behavioral importance can be increased. ARP depends on the learning strategy used to solve an auditory problem and the increased cortical area confers greater strength of auditory memory. Thus, primary auditory cortex is involved in cognitive processes, transcending its assumed function of auditory stimulus analysis. The implications for basic neuroscience and clinical auditory neuroscience are presented and suggestions for remediation of auditory processing disorders are introduced. PMID:25356375

  3. Induction of plasticity in the human motor cortex by pairing an auditory stimulus with TMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul Fredrick Sowman

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Acoustic stimuli can cause a transient increase in the excitability of the motor cortex. The current study leverages this phenomenon to develop a method for testing the integrity of auditorimotor integration and the capacity for auditorimotor plasticity. We demonstrate that appropriately timed transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS of the hand area, paired with auditorily mediated excitation of the motor cortex, induces an enhancement of motor cortex excitability that lasts beyond the time of stimulation. This result demonstrates for the first time that paired associative stimulation (PAS -induced plasticity within the motor cortex is applicable with auditory stimuli. We propose that the method developed here might provide a useful tool for future studies that measure auditory-motor connectivity in communication disorders.

  4. Potential long-term effects of MDMA on the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit: a proton MR spectroscopy and diffusion-tensor imaging study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Hua-Shan; Chou, Ming-Chung; Chung, Hsiao-Wen; Cho, Nai-Yu; Chiang, Shih-Wei; Wang, Chao-Ying; Kao, Hung-Wen; Huang, Guo-Shu; Chen, Cheng-Yu

    2011-08-01

    To investigate the effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA, commonly known as "ecstasy") on the alterations of brain metabolites and anatomic tissue integrity related to the function of the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit by using proton magnetic resonance (MR) spectroscopy and diffusion-tensor MR imaging. This study was approved by a local institutional review board, and written informed consent was obtained from all subjects. Thirty-one long-term (>1 year) MDMA users and 33 healthy subjects were enrolled. Proton MR spectroscopy from the middle frontal cortex and bilateral basal ganglia and whole-brain diffusion-tensor MR imaging were performed with a 3.0-T system. Absolute concentrations of metabolites were computed, and diffusion-tensor data were registered to the International Consortium for Brain Mapping template to facilitate voxel-based group comparison. The mean myo-inositol level in the basal ganglia of MDMA users (left: 4.55 mmol/L ± 2.01 [standard deviation], right: 4.48 mmol/L ± 1.33) was significantly higher than that in control subjects (left: 3.25 mmol/L ± 1.30, right: 3.31 mmol/L ± 1.19) (P 50 voxels). Increased myo-inositol and Cho concentrations in the basal ganglia of MDMA users are suggestive of glial response to degenerating serotonergic functions. The abnormal metabolic changes in the basal ganglia may consequently affect the inhibitory effect of the basal ganglia to the thalamus, as suggested by the increased FA in the thalamus and abnormal changes in water diffusion in the corresponding basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit. © RSNA, 2011.

  5. Amodal brain activation and functional connectivity in response to high-energy-density food cues in obesity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carnell, Susan; Benson, Leora; Pantazatos, Spiro P; Hirsch, Joy; Geliebter, Allan

    2014-11-01

    The obesogenic environment is pervasive, yet only some people become obese. The aim was to investigate whether obese individuals show differential neural responses to visual and auditory food cues, independent of cue modality. Obese (BMI 29-41, n = 10) and lean (BMI 20-24, n = 10) females underwent fMRI scanning during presentation of auditory (spoken word) and visual (photograph) cues representing high-energy-density (ED) and low-ED foods. The effect of obesity on whole-brain activation, and on functional connectivity with the midbrain/VTA, was examined. Obese compared with lean women showed greater modality-independent activation of the midbrain/VTA and putamen in response to high-ED (vs. low-ED) cues, as well as relatively greater functional connectivity between the midbrain/VTA and cerebellum (P food cues within the midbrain/VTA and putamen, and altered functional connectivity between the midbrain/VTA and cerebellum, could contribute to excessive food intake in obese individuals. © 2014 The Obesity Society.

  6. Functional studies of the human auditory cortex, auditory memory and musical hallucinations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goycoolea, Marcos; Mena, Ismael; Neubauer, Sonia

    2004-01-01

    Objectives. 1. To determine which areas of the cerebral cortex are activated stimulating the left ear with pure tones, and what type of stimulation occurs (eg. excitatory or inhibitory) in these different areas. 2. To use this information as an initial step to develop a normal functional data base for future studies. 3. To try to determine if there is a biological substrate to the process of recalling previous auditory perceptions and if possible, suggest a locus for auditory memory. Method. Brain perfusion single photon emission computerized tomography (SPECT) evaluation was conducted: 1-2) Using auditory stimulation with pure tones in 4 volunteers with normal hearing. 3) In a patient with bilateral profound hearing loss who had auditory perception of previous musical experiences; while injected with Tc99m HMPAO while she was having the sensation of hearing a well known melody. Results. Both in the patient with auditory hallucinations and the normal controls -stimulated with pure tones- there was a statistically significant increase in perfusion in Brodmann's area 39, more intense on the right side (right to left p < 0.05). With a lesser intensity there was activation in the adjacent area 40 and there was intense activation also in the executive frontal cortex areas 6, 8, 9, and 10 of Brodmann. There was also activation of area 7 of Brodmann; an audio-visual association area; more marked on the right side in the patient and the normal stimulated controls. In the subcortical structures there was also marked activation in the patient with hallucinations in both lentiform nuclei, thalamus and caudate nuclei also more intense in the right hemisphere, 5, 4.7 and 4.2 S.D. above the mean respectively and 5, 3.3, and 3 S.D. above the normal mean in the left hemisphere respectively. Similar findings were observed in normal controls. Conclusions. After auditory stimulation with pure tones in the left ear of normal female volunteers, there is bilateral activation of area 39

  7. An analysis of nonlinear dynamics underlying neural activity related to auditory induction in the rat auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Noto, M; Nishikawa, J; Tateno, T

    2016-03-24

    A sound interrupted by silence is perceived as discontinuous. However, when high-intensity noise is inserted during the silence, the missing sound may be perceptually restored and be heard as uninterrupted. This illusory phenomenon is called auditory induction. Recent electrophysiological studies have revealed that auditory induction is associated with the primary auditory cortex (A1). Although experimental evidence has been accumulating, the neural mechanisms underlying auditory induction in A1 neurons are poorly understood. To elucidate this, we used both experimental and computational approaches. First, using an optical imaging method, we characterized population responses across auditory cortical fields to sound and identified five subfields in rats. Next, we examined neural population activity related to auditory induction with high temporal and spatial resolution in the rat auditory cortex (AC), including the A1 and several other AC subfields. Our imaging results showed that tone-burst stimuli interrupted by a silent gap elicited early phasic responses to the first tone and similar or smaller responses to the second tone following the gap. In contrast, tone stimuli interrupted by broadband noise (BN), considered to cause auditory induction, considerably suppressed or eliminated responses to the tone following the noise. Additionally, tone-burst stimuli that were interrupted by notched noise centered at the tone frequency, which is considered to decrease the strength of auditory induction, partially restored the second responses from the suppression caused by BN. To phenomenologically mimic the neural population activity in the A1 and thus investigate the mechanisms underlying auditory induction, we constructed a computational model from the periphery through the AC, including a nonlinear dynamical system. The computational model successively reproduced some of the above-mentioned experimental results. Therefore, our results suggest that a nonlinear, self

  8. Functional connectivity in task-negative network of the Deaf: effects of sign language experience

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evie Malaia

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Prior studies investigating cortical processing in Deaf signers suggest that life-long experience with sign language and/or auditory deprivation may alter the brain’s anatomical structure and the function of brain regions typically recruited for auditory processing (Emmorey et al., 2010; Pénicaud et al., 2013 inter alia. We report the first investigation of the task-negative network in Deaf signers and its functional connectivity—the temporal correlations among spatially remote neurophysiological events. We show that Deaf signers manifest increased functional connectivity between posterior cingulate/precuneus and left medial temporal gyrus (MTG, but also inferior parietal lobe and medial temporal gyrus in the right hemisphere- areas that have been found to show functional recruitment specifically during sign language processing. These findings suggest that the organization of the brain at the level of inter-network connectivity is likely affected by experience with processing visual language, although sensory deprivation could be another source of the difference. We hypothesize that connectivity alterations in the task negative network reflect predictive/automatized processing of the visual signal.

  9. Predictors of auditory performance in hearing-aid users: The role of cognitive function and auditory lifestyle (A)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestergaard, Martin David

    2006-01-01

    no objective benefit can be measured. It has been suggested that lack of agreement between various hearing-aid outcome components can be explained by individual differences in cognitive function and auditory lifestyle. We measured speech identification, self-report outcome, spectral and temporal resolution...... of hearing, cognitive skills, and auditory lifestyle in 25 new hearing-aid users. The purpose was to assess the predictive power of the nonauditory measures while looking at the relationships between measures from various auditory-performance domains. The results showed that only moderate correlation exists...... between objective and subjective hearing-aid outcome. Different self-report outcome measures showed a different amount of correlation with objective auditory performance. Cognitive skills were found to play a role in explaining speech performance and spectral and temporal abilities, and auditory lifestyle...

  10. Functional connection between posterior superior temporal gyrus and ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in human.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garell, P C; Bakken, H; Greenlee, J D W; Volkov, I; Reale, R A; Oya, H; Kawasaki, H; Howard, M A; Brugge, J F

    2013-10-01

    The connection between auditory fields of the temporal lobe and prefrontal cortex has been well characterized in nonhuman primates. Little is known of temporofrontal connectivity in humans, however, due largely to the fact that invasive experimental approaches used so successfully to trace anatomical pathways in laboratory animals cannot be used in humans. Instead, we used a functional tract-tracing method in 12 neurosurgical patients with multicontact electrode arrays chronically implanted over the left (n = 7) or right (n = 5) perisylvian temporal auditory cortex (area PLST) and the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) of the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) for diagnosis and treatment of medically intractable epilepsy. Area PLST was identified by the distribution of average auditory-evoked potentials obtained in response to simple and complex sounds. The same sounds evoked little if there is any activity in VLPFC. A single bipolar electrical pulse (0.2 ms, charge-balanced) applied between contacts within physiologically identified PLST resulted in polyphasic evoked potentials clustered in VLPFC, with greatest activation being in pars triangularis of the IFG. The average peak latency of the earliest negative deflection of the evoked potential on VLPFC was 13.48 ms (range: 9.0-18.5 ms), providing evidence for a rapidly conducting pathway between area PLST and VLPFC.

  11. Central auditory processing outcome after stroke in children

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karla M. I. Freiria Elias

    2014-09-01

    Full Text Available Objective To investigate central auditory processing in children with unilateral stroke and to verify whether the hemisphere affected by the lesion influenced auditory competence. Method 23 children (13 male between 7 and 16 years old were evaluated through speech-in-noise tests (auditory closure; dichotic digit test and staggered spondaic word test (selective attention; pitch pattern and duration pattern sequence tests (temporal processing and their results were compared with control children. Auditory competence was established according to the performance in auditory analysis ability. Results Was verified similar performance between groups in auditory closure ability and pronounced deficits in selective attention and temporal processing abilities. Most children with stroke showed an impaired auditory ability in a moderate degree. Conclusion Children with stroke showed deficits in auditory processing and the degree of impairment was not related to the hemisphere affected by the lesion.

  12. Experience and information loss in auditory and visual memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gloede, Michele E; Paulauskas, Emily E; Gregg, Melissa K

    2017-07-01

    Recent studies show that recognition memory for sounds is inferior to memory for pictures. Four experiments were conducted to examine the nature of auditory and visual memory. Experiments 1-3 were conducted to evaluate the role of experience in auditory and visual memory. Participants received a study phase with pictures/sounds, followed by a recognition memory test. Participants then completed auditory training with each of the sounds, followed by a second memory test. Despite auditory training in Experiments 1 and 2, visual memory was superior to auditory memory. In Experiment 3, we found that it is possible to improve auditory memory, but only after 3 days of specific auditory training and 3 days of visual memory decay. We examined the time course of information loss in auditory and visual memory in Experiment 4 and found a trade-off between visual and auditory recognition memory: Visual memory appears to have a larger capacity, while auditory memory is more enduring. Our results indicate that visual and auditory memory are inherently different memory systems and that differences in visual and auditory recognition memory performance may be due to the different amounts of experience with visual and auditory information, as well as structurally different neural circuitry specialized for information retention.

  13. Auditory and motor imagery modulate learning in music performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Rachel M; Palmer, Caroline

    2013-01-01

    Skilled performers such as athletes or musicians can improve their performance by imagining the actions or sensory outcomes associated with their skill. Performers vary widely in their auditory and motor imagery abilities, and these individual differences influence sensorimotor learning. It is unknown whether imagery abilities influence both memory encoding and retrieval. We examined how auditory and motor imagery abilities influence musicians' encoding (during Learning, as they practiced novel melodies), and retrieval (during Recall of those melodies). Pianists learned melodies by listening without performing (auditory learning) or performing without sound (motor learning); following Learning, pianists performed the melodies from memory with auditory feedback (Recall). During either Learning (Experiment 1) or Recall (Experiment 2), pianists experienced either auditory interference, motor interference, or no interference. Pitch accuracy (percentage of correct pitches produced) and temporal regularity (variability of quarter-note interonset intervals) were measured at Recall. Independent tests measured auditory and motor imagery skills. Pianists' pitch accuracy was higher following auditory learning than following motor learning and lower in motor interference conditions (Experiments 1 and 2). Both auditory and motor imagery skills improved pitch accuracy overall. Auditory imagery skills modulated pitch accuracy encoding (Experiment 1): Higher auditory imagery skill corresponded to higher pitch accuracy following auditory learning with auditory or motor interference, and following motor learning with motor or no interference. These findings suggest that auditory imagery abilities decrease vulnerability to interference and compensate for missing auditory feedback at encoding. Auditory imagery skills also influenced temporal regularity at retrieval (Experiment 2): Higher auditory imagery skill predicted greater temporal regularity during Recall in the presence of

  14. Auditory and motor imagery modulate learning in music performance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Rachel M.; Palmer, Caroline

    2013-01-01

    Skilled performers such as athletes or musicians can improve their performance by imagining the actions or sensory outcomes associated with their skill. Performers vary widely in their auditory and motor imagery abilities, and these individual differences influence sensorimotor learning. It is unknown whether imagery abilities influence both memory encoding and retrieval. We examined how auditory and motor imagery abilities influence musicians' encoding (during Learning, as they practiced novel melodies), and retrieval (during Recall of those melodies). Pianists learned melodies by listening without performing (auditory learning) or performing without sound (motor learning); following Learning, pianists performed the melodies from memory with auditory feedback (Recall). During either Learning (Experiment 1) or Recall (Experiment 2), pianists experienced either auditory interference, motor interference, or no interference. Pitch accuracy (percentage of correct pitches produced) and temporal regularity (variability of quarter-note interonset intervals) were measured at Recall. Independent tests measured auditory and motor imagery skills. Pianists' pitch accuracy was higher following auditory learning than following motor learning and lower in motor interference conditions (Experiments 1 and 2). Both auditory and motor imagery skills improved pitch accuracy overall. Auditory imagery skills modulated pitch accuracy encoding (Experiment 1): Higher auditory imagery skill corresponded to higher pitch accuracy following auditory learning with auditory or motor interference, and following motor learning with motor or no interference. These findings suggest that auditory imagery abilities decrease vulnerability to interference and compensate for missing auditory feedback at encoding. Auditory imagery skills also influenced temporal regularity at retrieval (Experiment 2): Higher auditory imagery skill predicted greater temporal regularity during Recall in the presence of

  15. Auditory-vocal mirroring in songbirds.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mooney, Richard

    2014-01-01

    Mirror neurons are theorized to serve as a neural substrate for spoken language in humans, but the existence and functions of auditory-vocal mirror neurons in the human brain remain largely matters of speculation. Songbirds resemble humans in their capacity for vocal learning and depend on their learned songs to facilitate courtship and individual recognition. Recent neurophysiological studies have detected putative auditory-vocal mirror neurons in a sensorimotor region of the songbird's brain that plays an important role in expressive and receptive aspects of vocal communication. This review discusses the auditory and motor-related properties of these cells, considers their potential role on song learning and communication in relation to classical studies of birdsong, and points to the circuit and developmental mechanisms that may give rise to auditory-vocal mirroring in the songbird's brain.

  16. Propofol disrupts functional interactions between sensory and high-order processing of auditory verbal memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiaolin; Lauer, Kathryn K; Ward, Barney D; Rao, Stephen M; Li, Shi-Jiang; Hudetz, Anthony G

    2012-10-01

    Current theories suggest that disrupting cortical information integration may account for the mechanism of general anesthesia in suppressing consciousness. Human cognitive operations take place in hierarchically structured neural organizations in the brain. The process of low-order neural representation of sensory stimuli becoming integrated in high-order cortices is also known as cognitive binding. Combining neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, and anesthetic manipulation, we examined how cognitive networks involved in auditory verbal memory are maintained in wakefulness, disrupted in propofol-induced deep sedation, and re-established in recovery. Inspired by the notion of cognitive binding, an functional magnetic resonance imaging-guided connectivity analysis was utilized to assess the integrity of functional interactions within and between different levels of the task-defined brain regions. Task-related responses persisted in the primary auditory cortex (PAC), but vanished in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG) and premotor areas in deep sedation. For connectivity analysis, seed regions representing sensory and high-order processing of the memory task were identified in the PAC and IFG. Propofol disrupted connections from the PAC seed to the frontal regions and thalamus, but not the connections from the IFG seed to a set of widely distributed brain regions in the temporal, frontal, and parietal lobes (with exception of the PAC). These later regions have been implicated in mediating verbal comprehension and memory. These results suggest that propofol disrupts cognition by blocking the projection of sensory information to high-order processing networks and thus preventing information integration. Such findings contribute to our understanding of anesthetic mechanisms as related to information and integration in the brain. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Noise perception in the workplace and auditory and extra-auditory symptoms referred by university professors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Servilha, Emilse Aparecida Merlin; Delatti, Marina de Almeida

    2012-01-01

    To investigate the correlation between noise in the work environment and auditory and extra-auditory symptoms referred by university professors. Eighty five professors answered a questionnaire about identification, functional status, and health. The relationship between occupational noise and auditory and extra-auditory symptoms was investigated. Statistical analysis considered the significance level of 5%. None of the professors indicated absence of noise. Responses were grouped in Always (A) (n=21) and Not Always (NA) (n=63). Significant sources of noise were both the yard and another class, which were classified as high intensity; poor acoustic and echo. There was no association between referred noise and health complaints, such as digestive, hormonal, osteoarticular, dental, circulatory, respiratory and emotional complaints. There was also no association between referred noise and hearing complaints, and the group A showed higher occurrence of responses regarding noise nuisance, hearing difficulty and dizziness/vertigo, tinnitus, and earache. There was association between referred noise and voice alterations, and the group NA presented higher percentage of cases with voice alterations than the group A. The university environment was considered noisy; however, there was no association with auditory and extra-auditory symptoms. The hearing complaints were more evident among professors in the group A. Professors' health is a multi-dimensional product and, therefore, noise cannot be considered the only aggravation factor.

  18. Relation between Working Memory Capacity and Auditory Stream Segregation in Children with Auditory Processing Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lotfi, Yones; Mehrkian, Saiedeh; Moossavi, Abdollah; Zadeh, Soghrat Faghih; Sadjedi, Hamed

    2016-03-01

    This study assessed the relationship between working memory capacity and auditory stream segregation by using the concurrent minimum audible angle in children with a diagnosed auditory processing disorder (APD). The participants in this cross-sectional, comparative study were 20 typically developing children and 15 children with a diagnosed APD (age, 9-11 years) according to the subtests of multiple-processing auditory assessment. Auditory stream segregation was investigated using the concurrent minimum audible angle. Working memory capacity was evaluated using the non-word repetition and forward and backward digit span tasks. Nonparametric statistics were utilized to compare the between-group differences. The Pearson correlation was employed to measure the degree of association between working memory capacity and the localization tests between the 2 groups. The group with APD had significantly lower scores than did the typically developing subjects in auditory stream segregation and working memory capacity. There were significant negative correlations between working memory capacity and the concurrent minimum audible angle in the most frontal reference location (0° azimuth) and lower negative correlations in the most lateral reference location (60° azimuth) in the children with APD. The study revealed a relationship between working memory capacity and auditory stream segregation in children with APD. The research suggests that lower working memory capacity in children with APD may be the possible cause of the inability to segregate and group incoming information.

  19. Spatial-temporal-spectral EEG patterns of BOLD functional network connectivity dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lamoš, Martin; Mareček, Radek; Slavíček, Tomáš; Mikl, Michal; Rektor, Ivan; Jan, Jiří

    2018-06-01

    Objective. Growing interest in the examination of large-scale brain network functional connectivity dynamics is accompanied by an effort to find the electrophysiological correlates. The commonly used constraints applied to spatial and spectral domains during electroencephalogram (EEG) data analysis may leave part of the neural activity unrecognized. We propose an approach that blindly reveals multimodal EEG spectral patterns that are related to the dynamics of the BOLD functional network connectivity. Approach. The blind decomposition of EEG spectrogram by parallel factor analysis has been shown to be a useful technique for uncovering patterns of neural activity. The simultaneously acquired BOLD fMRI data were decomposed by independent component analysis. Dynamic functional connectivity was computed on the component’s time series using a sliding window correlation, and between-network connectivity states were then defined based on the values of the correlation coefficients. ANOVA tests were performed to assess the relationships between the dynamics of between-network connectivity states and the fluctuations of EEG spectral patterns. Main results. We found three patterns related to the dynamics of between-network connectivity states. The first pattern has dominant peaks in the alpha, beta, and gamma bands and is related to the dynamics between the auditory, sensorimotor, and attentional networks. The second pattern, with dominant peaks in the theta and low alpha bands, is related to the visual and default mode network. The third pattern, also with peaks in the theta and low alpha bands, is related to the auditory and frontal network. Significance. Our previous findings revealed a relationship between EEG spectral pattern fluctuations and the hemodynamics of large-scale brain networks. In this study, we suggest that the relationship also exists at the level of functional connectivity dynamics among large-scale brain networks when no standard spatial and spectral

  20. Auditory and motor imagery modulate learning in music performance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rachel M. Brown

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Skilled performers such as athletes or musicians can improve their performance by imagining the actions or sensory outcomes associated with their skill. Performers vary widely in their auditory and motor imagery abilities, and these individual differences influence sensorimotor learning. It is unknown whether imagery abilities influence both memory encoding and retrieval. We examined how auditory and motor imagery abilities influence musicians’ encoding (during Learning, as they practiced novel melodies, and retrieval (during Recall of those melodies. Pianists learned melodies by listening without performing (auditory learning or performing without sound (motor learning; following Learning, pianists performed the melodies from memory with auditory feedback (Recall. During either Learning (Experiment 1 or Recall (Experiment 2, pianists experienced either auditory interference, motor interference, or no interference. Pitch accuracy (percentage of correct pitches produced and temporal regularity (variability of quarter-note interonset intervals were measured at Recall. Independent tests measured auditory and motor imagery skills. Pianists’ pitch accuracy was higher following auditory learning than following motor learning and lower in motor interference conditions (Experiments 1 and 2. Both auditory and motor imagery skills improved pitch accuracy overall. Auditory imagery skills modulated pitch accuracy encoding (Experiment 1: Higher auditory imagery skill corresponded to higher pitch accuracy following auditory learning with auditory or motor interference, and following motor learning with motor or no interference. These findings suggest that auditory imagery abilities decrease vulnerability to interference and compensate for missing auditory feedback at encoding. Auditory imagery skills also influenced temporal regularity at retrieval (Experiment 2: Higher auditory imagery skill predicted greater temporal regularity during Recall in the

  1. Empirical validation of directed functional connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mill, Ravi D; Bagic, Anto; Bostan, Andreea; Schneider, Walter; Cole, Michael W

    2017-02-01

    Mapping directions of influence in the human brain connectome represents the next phase in understanding its functional architecture. However, a host of methodological uncertainties have impeded the application of directed connectivity methods, which have primarily been validated via "ground truth" connectivity patterns embedded in simulated functional MRI (fMRI) and magneto-/electro-encephalography (MEG/EEG) datasets. Such simulations rely on many generative assumptions, and we hence utilized a different strategy involving empirical data in which a ground truth directed connectivity pattern could be anticipated with confidence. Specifically, we exploited the established "sensory reactivation" effect in episodic memory, in which retrieval of sensory information reactivates regions involved in perceiving that sensory modality. Subjects performed a paired associate task in separate fMRI and MEG sessions, in which a ground truth reversal in directed connectivity between auditory and visual sensory regions was instantiated across task conditions. This directed connectivity reversal was successfully recovered across different algorithms, including Granger causality and Bayes network (IMAGES) approaches, and across fMRI ("raw" and deconvolved) and source-modeled MEG. These results extend simulation studies of directed connectivity, and offer practical guidelines for the use of such methods in clarifying causal mechanisms of neural processing. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. The relation between working memory capacity and auditory lateralization in children with auditory processing disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moossavi, Abdollah; Mehrkian, Saiedeh; Lotfi, Yones; Faghihzadeh, Soghrat; sajedi, Hamed

    2014-11-01

    Auditory processing disorder (APD) describes a complex and heterogeneous disorder characterized by poor speech perception, especially in noisy environments. APD may be responsible for a range of sensory processing deficits associated with learning difficulties. There is no general consensus about the nature of APD and how the disorder should be assessed or managed. This study assessed the effect of cognition abilities (working memory capacity) on sound lateralization in children with auditory processing disorders, in order to determine how "auditory cognition" interacts with APD. The participants in this cross-sectional comparative study were 20 typically developing and 17 children with a diagnosed auditory processing disorder (9-11 years old). Sound lateralization abilities investigated using inter-aural time (ITD) differences and inter-aural intensity (IID) differences with two stimuli (high pass and low pass noise) in nine perceived positions. Working memory capacity was evaluated using the non-word repetition, and forward and backward digits span tasks. Linear regression was employed to measure the degree of association between working memory capacity and localization tests between the two groups. Children in the APD group had consistently lower scores than typically developing subjects in lateralization and working memory capacity measures. The results showed working memory capacity had significantly negative correlation with ITD errors especially with high pass noise stimulus but not with IID errors in APD children. The study highlights the impact of working memory capacity on auditory lateralization. The finding of this research indicates that the extent to which working memory influences auditory processing depend on the type of auditory processing and the nature of stimulus/listening situation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Auditory Training Effects on the Listening Skills of Children With Auditory Processing Disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Loo, Jenny Hooi Yin; Rosen, Stuart; Bamiou, Doris-Eva

    2016-01-01

    Children with auditory processing disorder (APD) typically present with "listening difficulties,"' including problems understanding speech in noisy environments. The authors examined, in a group of such children, whether a 12-week computer-based auditory training program with speech material improved the perception of speech-in-noise test performance, and functional listening skills as assessed by parental and teacher listening and communication questionnaires. The authors hypothesized that after the intervention, (1) trained children would show greater improvements in speech-in-noise perception than untrained controls; (2) this improvement would correlate with improvements in observer-rated behaviors; and (3) the improvement would be maintained for at least 3 months after the end of training. This was a prospective randomized controlled trial of 39 children with normal nonverbal intelligence, ages 7 to 11 years, all diagnosed with APD. This diagnosis required a normal pure-tone audiogram and deficits in at least two clinical auditory processing tests. The APD children were randomly assigned to (1) a control group that received only the current standard treatment for children diagnosed with APD, employing various listening/educational strategies at school (N = 19); or (2) an intervention group that undertook a 3-month 5-day/week computer-based auditory training program at home, consisting of a wide variety of speech-based listening tasks with competing sounds, in addition to the current standard treatment. All 39 children were assessed for language and cognitive skills at baseline and on three outcome measures at baseline and immediate postintervention. Outcome measures were repeated 3 months postintervention in the intervention group only, to assess the sustainability of treatment effects. The outcome measures were (1) the mean speech reception threshold obtained from the four subtests of the listening in specialized noise test that assesses sentence perception in

  4. Functional Mapping of the Human Auditory Cortex: fMRI Investigation of a Patient with Auditory Agnosia from Trauma to the Inferior Colliculus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poliva, Oren; Bestelmeyer, Patricia E G; Hall, Michelle; Bultitude, Janet H; Koller, Kristin; Rafal, Robert D

    2015-09-01

    To use functional magnetic resonance imaging to map the auditory cortical fields that are activated, or nonreactive, to sounds in patient M.L., who has auditory agnosia caused by trauma to the inferior colliculi. The patient cannot recognize speech or environmental sounds. Her discrimination is greatly facilitated by context and visibility of the speaker's facial movements, and under forced-choice testing. Her auditory temporal resolution is severely compromised. Her discrimination is more impaired for words differing in voice onset time than place of articulation. Words presented to her right ear are extinguished with dichotic presentation; auditory stimuli in the right hemifield are mislocalized to the left. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to examine cortical activations to different categories of meaningful sounds embedded in a block design. Sounds activated the caudal sub-area of M.L.'s primary auditory cortex (hA1) bilaterally and her right posterior superior temporal gyrus (auditory dorsal stream), but not the rostral sub-area (hR) of her primary auditory cortex or the anterior superior temporal gyrus in either hemisphere (auditory ventral stream). Auditory agnosia reflects dysfunction of the auditory ventral stream. The ventral and dorsal auditory streams are already segregated as early as the primary auditory cortex, with the ventral stream projecting from hR and the dorsal stream from hA1. M.L.'s leftward localization bias, preserved audiovisual integration, and phoneme perception are explained by preserved processing in her right auditory dorsal stream.

  5. Dual Gamma Rhythm Generators Control Interlaminar Synchrony in Auditory Cortex

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ainsworth, Matthew; Lee, Shane; Cunningham, Mark O.; Roopun, Anita K.; Traub, Roger D.; Kopell, Nancy J.; Whittington, Miles A.

    2013-01-01

    Rhythmic activity in populations of cortical neurons accompanies, and may underlie, many aspects of primary sensory processing and short-term memory. Activity in the gamma band (30 Hz up to > 100 Hz) is associated with such cognitive tasks and is thought to provide a substrate for temporal coupling of spatially separate regions of the brain. However, such coupling requires close matching of frequencies in co-active areas, and because the nominal gamma band is so spectrally broad, it may not constitute a single underlying process. Here we show that, for inhibition-based gamma rhythms in vitro in rat neocortical slices, mechanistically distinct local circuit generators exist in different laminae of rat primary auditory cortex. A persistent, 30 – 45 Hz, gap-junction-dependent gamma rhythm dominates rhythmic activity in supragranular layers 2/3, whereas a tonic depolarization-dependent, 50 – 80 Hz, pyramidal/interneuron gamma rhythm is expressed in granular layer 4 with strong glutamatergic excitation. As a consequence, altering the degree of excitation of the auditory cortex causes bifurcation in the gamma frequency spectrum and can effectively switch temporal control of layer 5 from supragranular to granular layers. Computational modeling predicts the pattern of interlaminar connections may help to stabilize this bifurcation. The data suggest that different strategies are used by primary auditory cortex to represent weak and strong inputs, with principal cell firing rate becoming increasingly important as excitation strength increases. PMID:22114273

  6. Role of sound stimulation in reprogramming brain connectivity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaudhury, Sraboni; Nag, Tapas C; Jain, Suman; Wadhwa, Shashi

    2013-09-01

    Sensory stimulation has a critical role to play in the development of an individual. Environmental factors tend to modify the inputs received by the sensory pathway. The developing brain is most vulnerable to these alterations and interacts with the environment to modify its neural circuitry. In addition to other sensory stimuli, auditory stimulation can also act as external stimuli to provide enrichment during the perinatal period. There is evidence that suggests that enriched environment in the form of auditory stimulation can play a substantial role in modulating plasticity during the prenatal period. This review focuses on the emerging role of prenatal auditory stimulation in the development of higher brain functions such as learning and memory in birds and mammals. The molecular mechanisms of various changes in the hippocampus following sound stimulation to effect neurogenesis, learning and memory are described. Sound stimulation can also modify neural connectivity in the early postnatal life to enhance higher cognitive function or even repair the secondary damages in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. Thus, it becomes imperative to examine in detail the possible ameliorating effects of prenatal sound stimulation in existing animal models of various psychiatric disorders, such as autism.

  7. Blast-Induced Tinnitus and Elevated Central Auditory and Limbic Activity in Rats: A Manganese-Enhanced MRI and Behavioral Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ouyang, Jessica; Pace, Edward; Lepczyk, Laura; Kaufman, Michael; Zhang, Jessica; Perrine, Shane A; Zhang, Jinsheng

    2017-07-07

    Blast-induced tinitus is the number one service-connected disability that currently affects military personnel and veterans. To elucidate its underlying mechanisms, we subjected 13 Sprague Dawley adult rats to unilateral 14 psi blast exposure to induce tinnitus and measured auditory and limbic brain activity using manganese-enhanced MRI (MEMRI). Tinnitus was evaluated with a gap detection acoustic startle reflex paradigm, while hearing status was assessed with prepulse inhibition (PPI) and auditory brainstem responses (ABRs). Both anxiety and cognitive functioning were assessed using elevated plus maze and Morris water maze, respectively. Five weeks after blast exposure, 8 of the 13 blasted rats exhibited chronic tinnitus. While acoustic PPI remained intact and ABR thresholds recovered, the ABR wave P1-N1 amplitude reduction persisted in all blast-exposed rats. No differences in spatial cognition were observed, but blasted rats as a whole exhibited increased anxiety. MEMRI data revealed a bilateral increase in activity along the auditory pathway and in certain limbic regions of rats with tinnitus compared to age-matched controls. Taken together, our data suggest that while blast-induced tinnitus may play a role in auditory and limbic hyperactivity, the non-auditory effects of blast and potential traumatic brain injury may also exert an effect.

  8. Neural circuits in auditory and audiovisual memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Plakke, B; Romanski, L M

    2016-06-01

    Working memory is the ability to employ recently seen or heard stimuli and apply them to changing cognitive context. Although much is known about language processing and visual working memory, the neurobiological basis of auditory working memory is less clear. Historically, part of the problem has been the difficulty in obtaining a robust animal model to study auditory short-term memory. In recent years there has been neurophysiological and lesion studies indicating a cortical network involving both temporal and frontal cortices. Studies specifically targeting the role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in auditory working memory have suggested that dorsal and ventral prefrontal regions perform different roles during the processing of auditory mnemonic information, with the dorsolateral PFC performing similar functions for both auditory and visual working memory. In contrast, the ventrolateral PFC (VLPFC), which contains cells that respond robustly to auditory stimuli and that process both face and vocal stimuli may be an essential locus for both auditory and audiovisual working memory. These findings suggest a critical role for the VLPFC in the processing, integrating, and retaining of communication information. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI: Auditory working memory. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Feedforward and feedback projections of caudal belt and parabelt areas of auditory cortex: refining the hierarchical model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Troy A Hackett

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available Our working model of the primate auditory cortex recognizes three major regions (core, belt, parabelt, subdivided into thirteen areas. The connections between areas are topographically ordered in a manner consistent with information flow along two major anatomical axes: core-belt-parabelt and caudal-rostral. Remarkably, most of the connections supporting this model were revealed using retrograde tracing techniques. Little is known about laminar circuitry, as anterograde tracing of axon terminations has rarely been used. The purpose of the present study was to examine the laminar projections of three areas of auditory cortex, pursuant to analysis of all areas. The selected areas were: middle lateral belt (ML; caudomedial belt (CM; and caudal parabelt (CPB. Injections of anterograde tracers yielded data consistent with major features of our model, and also new findings that compel modifications. Results supporting the model were: 1 feedforward projection from ML and CM terminated in CPB; 2 feedforward projections from ML and CPB terminated in rostral areas of the belt and parabelt; and 3 feedback projections typified inputs to the core region from belt and parabelt. At odds with the model was the convergence of feedforward inputs into rostral medial belt from ML and CPB. This was unexpected since CPB is at a higher stage of the processing hierarchy, with mainly feedback projections to all other belt areas. Lastly, extending the model, feedforward projections from CM, ML, and CPB overlapped in the temporal parietal occipital area (TPO in the superior temporal sulcus, indicating significant auditory influence on sensory processing in this region. The combined results refine our working model and highlight the need to complete studies of the laminar inputs to all areas of auditory cortex. Their documentation is essential for developing informed hypotheses about the neurophysiological influences of inputs to each layer and area.

  10. Auditory motion-specific mechanisms in the primate brain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Colline Poirier

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available This work examined the mechanisms underlying auditory motion processing in the auditory cortex of awake monkeys using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. We tested to what extent auditory motion analysis can be explained by the linear combination of static spatial mechanisms, spectrotemporal processes, and their interaction. We found that the posterior auditory cortex, including A1 and the surrounding caudal belt and parabelt, is involved in auditory motion analysis. Static spatial and spectrotemporal processes were able to fully explain motion-induced activation in most parts of the auditory cortex, including A1, but not in circumscribed regions of the posterior belt and parabelt cortex. We show that in these regions motion-specific processes contribute to the activation, providing the first demonstration that auditory motion is not simply deduced from changes in static spatial location. These results demonstrate that parallel mechanisms for motion and static spatial analysis coexist within the auditory dorsal stream.

  11. High Field fMRI Reveals Thalamocortical Integration of Segregated Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Mediodorsal and Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metzger, C. D.; Eckert, U.; Steiner, J.; Sartorius, A.; Buchmann, J. E.; Stadler, J.; Tempelmann, C.; Speck, O.; Bogerts, B.; Abler, B.; Walter, M.

    2010-01-01

    Thalamocortical loops, connecting functionally segregated, higher order cortical regions, and basal ganglia, have been proposed not only for well described motor and sensory regions, but also for limbic and prefrontal areas relevant for affective and cognitive processes. These functions are, however, more specific to humans, rendering most invasive neuroanatomical approaches impossible and interspecies translations difficult. In contrast, non-invasive imaging of functional neuroanatomy using fMRI allows for the development of elaborate task paradigms capable of testing the specific functionalities proposed for these circuits. Until recently, spatial resolution largely limited the anatomical definition of functional clusters at the level of distinct thalamic nuclei. Since their anatomical distinction seems crucial not only for the segregation of cognitive and limbic loops but also for the detection of their functional interaction during cognitive–emotional integration, we applied high resolution fMRI on 7 Tesla. Using an event-related design, we could isolate thalamic effects for preceding attention as well as experience of erotic stimuli. We could demonstrate specific thalamic effects of general emotional arousal in mediodorsal nucleus and effects specific to preceding attention and expectancy in intralaminar centromedian/parafascicular complex. These thalamic effects were paralleled by specific coactivations in the head of caudate nucleus as well as segregated portions of rostral or caudal cingulate cortex and anterior insula supporting distinct thalamo–striato–cortical loops. In addition to predescribed effects of sexual arousal in hypothalamus and ventral striatum, high resolution fMRI could extent this network to paraventricular thalamus encompassing laterodorsal and parataenial nuclei. We could lend evidence to segregated subcortical loops which integrate cognitive and emotional aspects of basic human behavior such as sexual processing. PMID:21088699

  12. High field fMRI reveals thalamocortical integration of segregated cognitive and emotional processing in mediodorsal and intralaminar thalamic nuclei

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Coraline Danielle Metzger

    2010-11-01

    Full Text Available Thalamocortical loops, connecting functionally segregated, higher order cortical regions and basal ganglia, have been proposed not only for well described motor and sensory regions, but also for limbic and prefrontal areas relevant for affective and cognitive processes. These functions are, however, more specific to humans, rendering most invasive neuroanatomical approaches impossible and interspecies translations difficult. In contrast, non invasive imaging of functional neuroanatomy using fMRI allows for the development of elaborate task paradigms capable of testing the specific functionalities proposed for these circuits. Until recently, spatial resolution largely limited the anatomical definition of functional clusters at the level of distinct thalamic nuclei. Since their anatomical distinction seems crucial not only for the segregation of cognitive and limbic loops but also for the detection of their functional interaction during cognitive-emotional integration, we applied high resolution fMRI on 7 Tesla.Using an event related design, we could isolate thalamic effects for preceding attention as well as experience of erotic stimuli. We could demonstrate specific thalamic effects of general emotional arousal in mediodorsal nucleus and effects specific to preceding attention and expectancy in intralaminar centromedian/parafascicular complex (CM/PF. These thalamic effects were paralleled by specific coactivations in the head of caudate nucleus as well as segregated portions of rostral or caudal cingulate cortex and anterior insula supporting distinct thalamo-striato-cortical loops. In addition to predescribed effects of sexual arousal in hypothalamus and ventral striatum, high resolution fMRI could extent this network to paraventricular thalamus encompassing laterodorsal and parataenial nuclei. We could lend evidence to segregated subcortical loops which integrate cognitive and emotional aspects of basic human behaviour such as sexual

  13. Selective memory retrieval of auditory what and auditory where involves the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostopoulos, Penelope; Petrides, Michael

    2016-02-16

    There is evidence from the visual, verbal, and tactile memory domains that the midventrolateral prefrontal cortex plays a critical role in the top-down modulation of activity within posterior cortical areas for the selective retrieval of specific aspects of a memorized experience, a functional process often referred to as active controlled retrieval. In the present functional neuroimaging study, we explore the neural bases of active retrieval for auditory nonverbal information, about which almost nothing is known. Human participants were scanned with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in a task in which they were presented with short melodies from different locations in a simulated virtual acoustic environment within the scanner and were then instructed to retrieve selectively either the particular melody presented or its location. There were significant activity increases specifically within the midventrolateral prefrontal region during the selective retrieval of nonverbal auditory information. During the selective retrieval of information from auditory memory, the right midventrolateral prefrontal region increased its interaction with the auditory temporal region and the inferior parietal lobule in the right hemisphere. These findings provide evidence that the midventrolateral prefrontal cortical region interacts with specific posterior cortical areas in the human cerebral cortex for the selective retrieval of object and location features of an auditory memory experience.

  14. Fundamental deficits of auditory perception in Wernicke's aphasia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Robson, Holly; Grube, Manon; Lambon Ralph, Matthew A; Griffiths, Timothy D; Sage, Karen

    2013-01-01

    This work investigates the nature of the comprehension impairment in Wernicke's aphasia (WA), by examining the relationship between deficits in auditory processing of fundamental, non-verbal acoustic stimuli and auditory comprehension. WA, a condition resulting in severely disrupted auditory comprehension, primarily occurs following a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) to the left temporo-parietal cortex. Whilst damage to posterior superior temporal areas is associated with auditory linguistic comprehension impairments, functional-imaging indicates that these areas may not be specific to speech processing but part of a network for generic auditory analysis. We examined analysis of basic acoustic stimuli in WA participants (n = 10) using auditory stimuli reflective of theories of cortical auditory processing and of speech cues. Auditory spectral, temporal and spectro-temporal analysis was assessed using pure-tone frequency discrimination, frequency modulation (FM) detection and the detection of dynamic modulation (DM) in "moving ripple" stimuli. All tasks used criterion-free, adaptive measures of threshold to ensure reliable results at the individual level. Participants with WA showed normal frequency discrimination but significant impairments in FM and DM detection, relative to age- and hearing-matched controls at the group level (n = 10). At the individual level, there was considerable variation in performance, and thresholds for both FM and DM detection correlated significantly with auditory comprehension abilities in the WA participants. These results demonstrate the co-occurrence of a deficit in fundamental auditory processing of temporal and spectro-temporal non-verbal stimuli in WA, which may have a causal contribution to the auditory language comprehension impairment. Results are discussed in the context of traditional neuropsychology and current models of cortical auditory processing. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Visual cortex and auditory cortex activation in early binocularly blind macaques: A BOLD-fMRI study using auditory stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Rong; Wu, Lingjie; Tang, Zuohua; Sun, Xinghuai; Feng, Xiaoyuan; Tang, Weijun; Qian, Wen; Wang, Jie; Jin, Lixin; Zhong, Yufeng; Xiao, Zebin

    2017-04-15

    Cross-modal plasticity within the visual and auditory cortices of early binocularly blind macaques is not well studied. In this study, four healthy neonatal macaques were assigned to group A (control group) or group B (binocularly blind group). Sixteen months later, blood oxygenation level-dependent functional imaging (BOLD-fMRI) was conducted to examine the activation in the visual and auditory cortices of each macaque while being tested using pure tones as auditory stimuli. The changes in the BOLD response in the visual and auditory cortices of all macaques were compared with immunofluorescence staining findings. Compared with group A, greater BOLD activity was observed in the bilateral visual cortices of group B, and this effect was particularly obvious in the right visual cortex. In addition, more activated volumes were found in the bilateral auditory cortices of group B than of group A, especially in the right auditory cortex. These findings were consistent with the fact that there were more c-Fos-positive cells in the bilateral visual and auditory cortices of group B compared with group A (p visual cortices of binocularly blind macaques can be reorganized to process auditory stimuli after visual deprivation, and this effect is more obvious in the right than the left visual cortex. These results indicate the establishment of cross-modal plasticity within the visual and auditory cortices. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Left auditory cortex gamma synchronization and auditory hallucination symptoms in schizophrenia

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    Shenton Martha E

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Oscillatory electroencephalogram (EEG abnormalities may reflect neural circuit dysfunction in neuropsychiatric disorders. Previously we have found positive correlations between the phase synchronization of beta and gamma oscillations and hallucination symptoms in schizophrenia patients. These findings suggest that the propensity for hallucinations is associated with an increased tendency for neural circuits in sensory cortex to enter states of oscillatory synchrony. Here we tested this hypothesis by examining whether the 40 Hz auditory steady-state response (ASSR generated in the left primary auditory cortex is positively correlated with auditory hallucination symptoms in schizophrenia. We also examined whether the 40 Hz ASSR deficit in schizophrenia was associated with cross-frequency interactions. Sixteen healthy control subjects (HC and 18 chronic schizophrenia patients (SZ listened to 40 Hz binaural click trains. The EEG was recorded from 60 electrodes and average-referenced offline. A 5-dipole model was fit from the HC grand average ASSR, with 2 pairs of superior temporal dipoles and a deep midline dipole. Time-frequency decomposition was performed on the scalp EEG and source data. Results Phase locking factor (PLF and evoked power were reduced in SZ at fronto-central electrodes, replicating prior findings. PLF was reduced in SZ for non-homologous right and left hemisphere sources. Left hemisphere source PLF in SZ was positively correlated with auditory hallucination symptoms, and was modulated by delta phase. Furthermore, the correlations between source evoked power and PLF found in HC was reduced in SZ for the LH sources. Conclusion These findings suggest that differential neural circuit abnormalities may be present in the left and right auditory cortices in schizophrenia. In addition, they provide further support for the hypothesis that hallucinations are related to cortical hyperexcitability, which is manifested by

  17. Ibsen’s Danse Macabre: The importance of auditory elements in Henrik Ibsen’s drama John Gabriel Borkman

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    Todić Sofija

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In the drama John Gabriel Borkman Ibsen attributes great importance to sounds. The contrast between presence and absence of sounds, other sound effects and especially the Danse Macabre played on the piano emphasize the drama’s eerie atmosphere. Danse Macabre can be also seen as the drama’s key metaphor, and it connects the first and the second acts and creates unity of time and action. The allegorical meanings of this composition can serve as a paradigm in the interpretation of each character, their relations, and the whole dramatic action even. The focus of this work is on the auditory layer of the drama, emphasizing the important function of the auditory included in a dramatic work.

  18. Cognitive factors shape brain networks for auditory skills: spotlight on auditory working memory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Nina; Strait, Dana; Parbery-Clark, Alexandra

    2012-01-01

    Musicians benefit from real-life advantages such as a greater ability to hear speech in noise and to remember sounds, although the biological mechanisms driving such advantages remain undetermined. Furthermore, the extent to which these advantages are a consequence of musical training or innate characteristics that predispose a given individual to pursue music training is often debated. Here, we examine biological underpinnings of musicians’ auditory advantages and the mediating role of auditory working memory. Results from our laboratory are presented within a framework that emphasizes auditory working memory as a major factor in the neural processing of sound. Within this framework, we provide evidence for music training as a contributing source of these abilities. PMID:22524346

  19. Mapping a lateralisation gradient within the ventral stream for auditory speech perception

    OpenAIRE

    Karsten eSpecht

    2013-01-01

    Recent models on speech perception propose a dual stream processing network, with a dorsal stream, extending from the posterior temporal lobe of the left hemisphere through inferior parietal areas into the left inferior frontal gyrus, and a ventral stream that is assumed to originate in the primary auditory cortex in the upper posterior part of the temporal lobe and to extend towards the anterior part of the temporal lobe, where it may connect to the ventral part of the inferior frontal gyrus...

  20. Mapping a lateralization gradient within the ventral stream for auditory speech perception

    OpenAIRE

    Specht, Karsten

    2013-01-01

    Recent models on speech perception propose a dual-stream processing network, with a dorsal stream, extending from the posterior temporal lobe of the left hemisphere through inferior parietal areas into the left inferior frontal gyrus, and a ventral stream that is assumed to originate in the primary auditory cortex in the upper posterior part of the temporal lobe and to extend toward the anterior part of the temporal lobe, where it may connect to the ventral part of the inferior frontal gyrus....

  1. Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berger, Christopher C; Ehrsson, H Henrik

    2016-01-01

    The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect-an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

  2. Auditory Motion Elicits a Visual Motion Aftereffect

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    Christopher C. Berger

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The visual motion aftereffect is a visual illusion in which exposure to continuous motion in one direction leads to a subsequent illusion of visual motion in the opposite direction. Previous findings have been mixed with regard to whether this visual illusion can be induced cross-modally by auditory stimuli. Based on research on multisensory perception demonstrating the profound influence auditory perception can have on the interpretation and perceived motion of visual stimuli, we hypothesized that exposure to auditory stimuli with strong directional motion cues should induce a visual motion aftereffect. Here, we demonstrate that horizontally moving auditory stimuli induced a significant visual motion aftereffect—an effect that was driven primarily by a change in visual motion perception following exposure to leftward moving auditory stimuli. This finding is consistent with the notion that visual and auditory motion perception rely on at least partially overlapping neural substrates.

  3. Relation between Working Memory Capacity and Auditory Stream Segregation in Children with Auditory Processing Disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yones Lotfi

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: This study assessed the relationship between working memory capacity and auditory stream segregation by using the concurrent minimum audible angle in children with a diagnosed auditory processing disorder (APD. Methods: The participants in this cross-sectional, comparative study were 20 typically developing children and 15 children with a diagnosed APD (age, 9–11 years according to the subtests of multiple-processing auditory assessment. Auditory stream segregation was investigated using the concurrent minimum audible angle. Working memory capacity was evaluated using the non-word repetition and forward and backward digit span tasks. Nonparametric statistics were utilized to compare the between-group differences. The Pearson correlation was employed to measure the degree of association between working memory capacity and the localization tests between the 2 groups. Results: The group with APD had significantly lower scores than did the typically developing subjects in auditory stream segregation and working memory capacity. There were significant negative correlations between working memory capacity and the concurrent minimum audible angle in the most frontal reference location (0° azimuth and lower negative correlations in the most lateral reference location (60° azimuth in the children with APD. Conclusion: The study revealed a relationship between working memory capacity and auditory stream segregation in children with APD. The research suggests that lower working memory capacity in children with APD may be the possible cause of the inability to segregate and group incoming information.

  4. Impaired pitch perception and memory in congenital amusia: the deficit starts in the auditory cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Albouy, Philippe; Mattout, Jérémie; Bouet, Romain; Maby, Emmanuel; Sanchez, Gaëtan; Aguera, Pierre-Emmanuel; Daligault, Sébastien; Delpuech, Claude; Bertrand, Olivier; Caclin, Anne; Tillmann, Barbara

    2013-05-01

    Congenital amusia is a lifelong disorder of music perception and production. The present study investigated the cerebral bases of impaired pitch perception and memory in congenital amusia using behavioural measures, magnetoencephalography and voxel-based morphometry. Congenital amusics and matched control subjects performed two melodic tasks (a melodic contour task and an easier transposition task); they had to indicate whether sequences of six tones (presented in pairs) were the same or different. Behavioural data indicated that in comparison with control participants, amusics' short-term memory was impaired for the melodic contour task, but not for the transposition task. The major finding was that pitch processing and short-term memory deficits can be traced down to amusics' early brain responses during encoding of the melodic information. Temporal and frontal generators of the N100m evoked by each note of the melody were abnormally recruited in the amusic brain. Dynamic causal modelling of the N100m further revealed decreased intrinsic connectivity in both auditory cortices, increased lateral connectivity between auditory cortices as well as a decreased right fronto-temporal backward connectivity in amusics relative to control subjects. Abnormal functioning of this fronto-temporal network was also shown during the retention interval and the retrieval of melodic information. In particular, induced gamma oscillations in right frontal areas were decreased in amusics during the retention interval. Using voxel-based morphometry, we confirmed morphological brain anomalies in terms of white and grey matter concentration in the right inferior frontal gyrus and the right superior temporal gyrus in the amusic brain. The convergence between functional and structural brain differences strengthens the hypothesis of abnormalities in the fronto-temporal pathway of the amusic brain. Our data provide first evidence of altered functioning of the auditory cortices during pitch

  5. Auditory conflict and congruence in frontotemporal dementia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clark, Camilla N; Nicholas, Jennifer M; Agustus, Jennifer L; Hardy, Christopher J D; Russell, Lucy L; Brotherhood, Emilie V; Dick, Katrina M; Marshall, Charles R; Mummery, Catherine J; Rohrer, Jonathan D; Warren, Jason D

    2017-09-01

    Impaired analysis of signal conflict and congruence may contribute to diverse socio-emotional symptoms in frontotemporal dementias, however the underlying mechanisms have not been defined. Here we addressed this issue in patients with behavioural variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD; n = 19) and semantic dementia (SD; n = 10) relative to healthy older individuals (n = 20). We created auditory scenes in which semantic and emotional congruity of constituent sounds were independently probed; associated tasks controlled for auditory perceptual similarity, scene parsing and semantic competence. Neuroanatomical correlates of auditory congruity processing were assessed using voxel-based morphometry. Relative to healthy controls, both the bvFTD and SD groups had impaired semantic and emotional congruity processing (after taking auditory control task performance into account) and reduced affective integration of sounds into scenes. Grey matter correlates of auditory semantic congruity processing were identified in distributed regions encompassing prefrontal, parieto-temporal and insular areas and correlates of auditory emotional congruity in partly overlapping temporal, insular and striatal regions. Our findings suggest that decoding of auditory signal relatedness may probe a generic cognitive mechanism and neural architecture underpinning frontotemporal dementia syndromes. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  6. Effect of age at cochlear implantation on auditory and speech development of children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yuying; Dong, Ruijuan; Li, Yuling; Xu, Tianqiu; Li, Yongxin; Chen, Xueqing; Gong, Shusheng

    2014-12-01

    To evaluate the auditory and speech abilities in children with auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder (ANSD) after cochlear implantation (CI) and determine the role of age at implantation. Ten children participated in this retrospective case series study. All children had evidence of ANSD. All subjects had no cochlear nerve deficiency on magnetic resonance imaging and had used the cochlear implants for a period of 12-84 months. We divided our children into two groups: children who underwent implantation before 24 months of age and children who underwent implantation after 24 months of age. Their auditory and speech abilities were evaluated using the following: behavioral audiometry, the Categories of Auditory Performance (CAP), the Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (MAIS), the Infant-Toddler Meaningful Auditory Integration Scale (IT-MAIS), the Standard-Chinese version of the Monosyllabic Lexical Neighborhood Test (LNT), the Multisyllabic Lexical Neighborhood Test (MLNT), the Speech Intelligibility Rating (SIR) and the Meaningful Use of Speech Scale (MUSS). All children showed progress in their auditory and language abilities. The 4-frequency average hearing level (HL) (500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz and 4000Hz) of aided hearing thresholds ranged from 17.5 to 57.5dB HL. All children developed time-related auditory perception and speech skills. Scores of children with ANSD who received cochlear implants before 24 months tended to be better than those of children who received cochlear implants after 24 months. Seven children completed the Mandarin Lexical Neighborhood Test. Approximately half of the children showed improved open-set speech recognition. Cochlear implantation is helpful for children with ANSD and may be a good optional treatment for many ANSD children. In addition, children with ANSD fitted with cochlear implants before 24 months tended to acquire auditory and speech skills better than children fitted with cochlear implants after 24 months. Copyright © 2014

  7. Effects of Auditory Stimuli on Visual Velocity Perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michiaki Shibata

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available We investigated the effects of auditory stimuli on the perceived velocity of a moving visual stimulus. Previous studies have reported that the duration of visual events is perceived as being longer for events filled with auditory stimuli than for events not filled with auditory stimuli, ie, the so-called “filled-duration illusion.” In this study, we have shown that auditory stimuli also affect the perceived velocity of a moving visual stimulus. In Experiment 1, a moving comparison stimulus (4.2∼5.8 deg/s was presented together with filled (or unfilled white-noise bursts or with no sound. The standard stimulus was a moving visual stimulus (5 deg/s presented before or after the comparison stimulus. The participants had to judge which stimulus was moving faster. The results showed that the perceived velocity in the auditory-filled condition was lower than that in the auditory-unfilled and no-sound conditions. In Experiment 2, we investigated the effects of auditory stimuli on velocity adaptation. The results showed that the effects of velocity adaptation in the auditory-filled condition were weaker than those in the no-sound condition. These results indicate that auditory stimuli tend to decrease the perceived velocity of a moving visual stimulus.

  8. The attenuation of auditory neglect by implicit cues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, A Rand; Williams, J Michael

    2006-09-01

    This study examined implicit semantic and rhyming cues on perception of auditory stimuli among nonaphasic participants who suffered a lesion of the right cerebral hemisphere and auditory neglect of sound perceived by the left ear. Because language represents an elaborate processing of auditory stimuli and the language centers were intact among these patients, it was hypothesized that interactive verbal stimuli presented in a dichotic manner would attenuate neglect. The selected participants were administered an experimental dichotic listening test composed of six types of word pairs: unrelated words, synonyms, antonyms, categorically related words, compound words, and rhyming words. Presentation of word pairs that were semantically related resulted in a dramatic reduction of auditory neglect. Dichotic presentations of rhyming words exacerbated auditory neglect. These findings suggest that the perception of auditory information is strongly affected by the specific content conveyed by the auditory system. Language centers will process a degraded stimulus that contains salient language content. A degraded auditory stimulus is neglected if it is devoid of content that activates the language centers or other cognitive systems. In general, these findings suggest that auditory neglect involves a complex interaction of intact and impaired cerebral processing centers with content that is selectively processed by these centers.

  9. The role of temporal coherence in auditory stream segregation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christiansen, Simon Krogholt

    The ability to perceptually segregate concurrent sound sources and focus one’s attention on a single source at a time is essential for the ability to use acoustic information. While perceptual experiments have determined a range of acoustic cues that help facilitate auditory stream segregation......, it is not clear how the auditory system realizes the task. This thesis presents a study of the mechanisms involved in auditory stream segregation. Through a combination of psychoacoustic experiments, designed to characterize the influence of acoustic cues on auditory stream formation, and computational models...... of auditory processing, the role of auditory preprocessing and temporal coherence in auditory stream formation was evaluated. The computational model presented in this study assumes that auditory stream segregation occurs when sounds stimulate non-overlapping neural populations in a temporally incoherent...

  10. Rapid measurement of auditory filter shape in mice using the auditory brainstem response and notched noise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lina, Ioan A; Lauer, Amanda M

    2013-04-01

    The notched noise method is an effective procedure for measuring frequency resolution and auditory filter shapes in both human and animal models of hearing. Briefly, auditory filter shape and bandwidth estimates are derived from masked thresholds for tones presented in noise containing widening spectral notches. As the spectral notch widens, increasingly less of the noise falls within the auditory filter and the tone becomes more detectible until the notch width exceeds the filter bandwidth. Behavioral procedures have been used for the derivation of notched noise auditory filter shapes in mice; however, the time and effort needed to train and test animals on these tasks renders a constraint on the widespread application of this testing method. As an alternative procedure, we combined relatively non-invasive auditory brainstem response (ABR) measurements and the notched noise method to estimate auditory filters in normal-hearing mice at center frequencies of 8, 11.2, and 16 kHz. A complete set of simultaneous masked thresholds for a particular tone frequency were obtained in about an hour. ABR-derived filter bandwidths broadened with increasing frequency, consistent with previous studies. The ABR notched noise procedure provides a fast alternative to estimating frequency selectivity in mice that is well-suited to high through-put or time-sensitive screening. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. GABAA receptors in visual and auditory cortex and neural activity changes during basic visual stimulation

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    Pengmin eQin

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Recent imaging studies have demonstrated that levels of resting GABA in the visual cortex predict the degree of stimulus-induced activity in the same region. These studies have used the presentation of discrete visual stimulus; the change from closed eyes to open also represents a simple visual stimulus, however, and has been shown to induce changes in local brain activity and in functional connectivity between regions. We thus aimed to investigate the role of the GABA system, specifically GABAA receptors, in the changes in brain activity between the eyes closed (EC and eyes open (EO state in order to provide detail at the receptor level to complement previous studies of GABA concentrations. We conducted an fMRI study involving two different modes of the change from EC to EO: An EO and EC block design, allowing the modelling of the haemodynamic response, followed by longer periods of EC and EO to allow the measuring of functional connectivity. The same subjects also underwent [18F]Flumazenil PET measure GABAA receptor binding potentials. It was demonstrated that the local-to-global ratio of GABAA receptor binding potential in the visual cortex predicted the degree of changes in neural activity from EC to EO. This same relationship was also shown in the auditory cortex. Furthermore, the local-to-global ratio of GABAA receptor binding potential in the visual cortex also predicts the change of functional connectivity between visual and auditory cortex from EC to EO. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of GABAA receptors in stimulus-induced neural activity in local regions and in inter-regional functional connectivity.

  12. Feature Assignment in Perception of Auditory Figure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gregg, Melissa K.; Samuel, Arthur G.

    2012-01-01

    Because the environment often includes multiple sounds that overlap in time, listeners must segregate a sound of interest (the auditory figure) from other co-occurring sounds (the unattended auditory ground). We conducted a series of experiments to clarify the principles governing the extraction of auditory figures. We distinguish between auditory…

  13. The effect of mild-to-moderate hearing loss on auditory and emotion processing networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Husain, Fatima T.; Carpenter-Thompson, Jake R.; Schmidt, Sara A.

    2014-01-01

    We investigated the impact of hearing loss (HL) on emotional processing using task- and rest-based functional magnetic resonance imaging. Two age-matched groups of middle-aged participants were recruited: one with bilateral high-frequency HL and a control group with normal hearing (NH). During the task-based portion of the experiment, participants were instructed to rate affective stimuli from the International Affective Digital Sounds (IADS) database as pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. In the resting state experiment, participants were told to fixate on a “+” sign on a screen for 5 min. The results of both the task-based and resting state studies suggest that NH and HL patients differ in their emotional response. Specifically, in the task-based study, we found slower response to affective but not neutral sounds by the HL group compared to the NH group. This was reflected in the brain activation patterns, with the NH group employing the expected limbic and auditory regions including the left amygdala, left parahippocampus, right middle temporal gyrus and left superior temporal gyrus to a greater extent in processing affective stimuli when compared to the HL group. In the resting state study, we observed no significant differences in connectivity of the auditory network between the groups. In the dorsal attention network (DAN), HL patients exhibited decreased connectivity between seed regions and left insula and left postcentral gyrus compared to controls. The default mode network (DMN) was also altered, showing increased connectivity between seeds and left middle frontal gyrus in the HL group. Further targeted analysis revealed increased intrinsic connectivity between the right middle temporal gyrus and the right precentral gyrus. The results from both studies suggest neuronal reorganization as a consequence of HL, most notably in networks responding to emotional sounds. PMID:24550791

  14. Auditory and Visual Sensations

    CERN Document Server

    Ando, Yoichi

    2010-01-01

    Professor Yoichi Ando, acoustic architectural designer of the Kirishima International Concert Hall in Japan, presents a comprehensive rational-scientific approach to designing performance spaces. His theory is based on systematic psychoacoustical observations of spatial hearing and listener preferences, whose neuronal correlates are observed in the neurophysiology of the human brain. A correlation-based model of neuronal signal processing in the central auditory system is proposed in which temporal sensations (pitch, timbre, loudness, duration) are represented by an internal autocorrelation representation, and spatial sensations (sound location, size, diffuseness related to envelopment) are represented by an internal interaural crosscorrelation function. Together these two internal central auditory representations account for the basic auditory qualities that are relevant for listening to music and speech in indoor performance spaces. Observed psychological and neurophysiological commonalities between auditor...

  15. Word Recognition in Auditory Cortex

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWitt, Iain D. J.

    2013-01-01

    Although spoken word recognition is more fundamental to human communication than text recognition, knowledge of word-processing in auditory cortex is comparatively impoverished. This dissertation synthesizes current models of auditory cortex, models of cortical pattern recognition, models of single-word reading, results in phonetics and results in…

  16. Partial Epilepsy with Auditory Features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J Gordon Millichap

    2004-07-01

    Full Text Available The clinical characteristics of 53 sporadic (S cases of idiopathic partial epilepsy with auditory features (IPEAF were analyzed and compared to previously reported familial (F cases of autosomal dominant partial epilepsy with auditory features (ADPEAF in a study at the University of Bologna, Italy.

  17. Maps of the Auditory Cortex.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brewer, Alyssa A; Barton, Brian

    2016-07-08

    One of the fundamental properties of the mammalian brain is that sensory regions of cortex are formed of multiple, functionally specialized cortical field maps (CFMs). Each CFM comprises two orthogonal topographical representations, reflecting two essential aspects of sensory space. In auditory cortex, auditory field maps (AFMs) are defined by the combination of tonotopic gradients, representing the spectral aspects of sound (i.e., tones), with orthogonal periodotopic gradients, representing the temporal aspects of sound (i.e., period or temporal envelope). Converging evidence from cytoarchitectural and neuroimaging measurements underlies the definition of 11 AFMs across core and belt regions of human auditory cortex, with likely homology to those of macaque. On a macrostructural level, AFMs are grouped into cloverleaf clusters, an organizational structure also seen in visual cortex. Future research can now use these AFMs to investigate specific stages of auditory processing, key for understanding behaviors such as speech perception and multimodal sensory integration.

  18. Rapid Auditory System Adaptation Using a Virtual Auditory Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaëtan Parseihian

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Various studies have highlighted plasticity of the auditory system from visual stimuli, limiting the trained field of perception. The aim of the present study is to investigate auditory system adaptation using an audio-kinesthetic platform. Participants were placed in a Virtual Auditory Environment allowing the association of the physical position of a virtual sound source with an alternate set of acoustic spectral cues or Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF through the use of a tracked ball manipulated by the subject. This set-up has the advantage to be not being limited to the visual field while also offering a natural perception-action coupling through the constant awareness of one's hand position. Adaptation process to non-individualized HRTF was realized through a spatial search game application. A total of 25 subjects participated, consisting of subjects presented with modified cues using non-individualized HRTF and a control group using individual measured HRTFs to account for any learning effect due to the game itself. The training game lasted 12 minutes and was repeated over 3 consecutive days. Adaptation effects were measured with repeated localization tests. Results showed a significant performance improvement for vertical localization and a significant reduction in the front/back confusion rate after 3 sessions.

  19. Visually Evoked Visual-Auditory Changes Associated with Auditory Performance in Children with Cochlear Implants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maojin Liang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Activation of the auditory cortex by visual stimuli has been reported in deaf children. In cochlear implant (CI patients, a residual, more intense cortical activation in the frontotemporal areas in response to photo stimuli was found to be positively associated with poor auditory performance. Our study aimed to investigate the mechanism by which visual processing in CI users activates the auditory-associated cortex during the period after cochlear implantation as well as its relation to CI outcomes. Twenty prelingually deaf children with CI were recruited. Ten children were good CI performers (GCP and ten were poor (PCP. Ten age- and sex- matched normal-hearing children were recruited as controls, and visual evoked potentials (VEPs were recorded. The characteristics of the right frontotemporal N1 component were analyzed. In the prelingually deaf children, higher N1 amplitude was observed compared to normal controls. While the GCP group showed significant decreases in N1 amplitude, and source analysis showed the most significant decrease in brain activity was observed in the primary visual cortex (PVC, with a downward trend in the primary auditory cortex (PAC activity, but these did not occur in the PCP group. Meanwhile, higher PVC activation (comparing to controls before CI use (0M and a significant decrease in source energy after CI use were found to be related to good CI outcomes. In the GCP group, source energy decreased in the visual-auditory cortex with CI use. However, no significant cerebral hemispheric dominance was found. We supposed that intra- or cross-modal reorganization and higher PVC activation in prelingually deaf children may reflect a stronger potential ability of cortical plasticity. Brain activity evolution appears to be related to CI auditory outcomes.

  20. Visually Evoked Visual-Auditory Changes Associated with Auditory Performance in Children with Cochlear Implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liang, Maojin; Zhang, Junpeng; Liu, Jiahao; Chen, Yuebo; Cai, Yuexin; Wang, Xianjun; Wang, Junbo; Zhang, Xueyuan; Chen, Suijun; Li, Xianghui; Chen, Ling; Zheng, Yiqing

    2017-01-01

    Activation of the auditory cortex by visual stimuli has been reported in deaf children. In cochlear implant (CI) patients, a residual, more intense cortical activation in the frontotemporal areas in response to photo stimuli was found to be positively associated with poor auditory performance. Our study aimed to investigate the mechanism by which visual processing in CI users activates the auditory-associated cortex during the period after cochlear implantation as well as its relation to CI outcomes. Twenty prelingually deaf children with CI were recruited. Ten children were good CI performers (GCP) and ten were poor (PCP). Ten age- and sex- matched normal-hearing children were recruited as controls, and visual evoked potentials (VEPs) were recorded. The characteristics of the right frontotemporal N1 component were analyzed. In the prelingually deaf children, higher N1 amplitude was observed compared to normal controls. While the GCP group showed significant decreases in N1 amplitude, and source analysis showed the most significant decrease in brain activity was observed in the primary visual cortex (PVC), with a downward trend in the primary auditory cortex (PAC) activity, but these did not occur in the PCP group. Meanwhile, higher PVC activation (comparing to controls) before CI use (0M) and a significant decrease in source energy after CI use were found to be related to good CI outcomes. In the GCP group, source energy decreased in the visual-auditory cortex with CI use. However, no significant cerebral hemispheric dominance was found. We supposed that intra- or cross-modal reorganization and higher PVC activation in prelingually deaf children may reflect a stronger potential ability of cortical plasticity. Brain activity evolution appears to be related to CI auditory outcomes.

  1. Auditory Hallucinations and the Brain’s Resting-State Networks: Findings and Methodological Observations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alderson-Day, Ben; Diederen, Kelly; Fernyhough, Charles; Ford, Judith M.; Horga, Guillermo; Margulies, Daniel S.; McCarthy-Jones, Simon; Northoff, Georg; Shine, James M.; Turner, Jessica; van de Ven, Vincent; van Lutterveld, Remko; Waters, Flavie; Jardri, Renaud

    2016-01-01

    In recent years, there has been increasing interest in the potential for alterations to the brain’s resting-state networks (RSNs) to explain various kinds of psychopathology. RSNs provide an intriguing new explanatory framework for hallucinations, which can occur in different modalities and population groups, but which remain poorly understood. This collaboration from the International Consortium on Hallucination Research (ICHR) reports on the evidence linking resting-state alterations to auditory hallucinations (AH) and provides a critical appraisal of the methodological approaches used in this area. In the report, we describe findings from resting connectivity fMRI in AH (in schizophrenia and nonclinical individuals) and compare them with findings from neurophysiological research, structural MRI, and research on visual hallucinations (VH). In AH, various studies show resting connectivity differences in left-hemisphere auditory and language regions, as well as atypical interaction of the default mode network and RSNs linked to cognitive control and salience. As the latter are also evident in studies of VH, this points to a domain-general mechanism for hallucinations alongside modality-specific changes to RSNs in different sensory regions. However, we also observed high methodological heterogeneity in the current literature, affecting the ability to make clear comparisons between studies. To address this, we provide some methodological recommendations and options for future research on the resting state and hallucinations. PMID:27280452

  2. Assessing the aging effect on auditory-verbal memory by Persian version of dichotic auditory verbal memory test

    OpenAIRE

    Zahra Shahidipour; Ahmad Geshani; Zahra Jafari; Shohreh Jalaie; Elham Khosravifard

    2014-01-01

    Background and Aim: Memory is one of the aspects of cognitive function which is widely affected among aged people. Since aging has different effects on different memorial systems and little studies have investigated auditory-verbal memory function in older adults using dichotic listening techniques, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the auditory-verbal memory function among old people using Persian version of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test. Methods: The Persian version of dic...

  3. Perceptual Plasticity for Auditory Object Recognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heald, Shannon L. M.; Van Hedger, Stephen C.; Nusbaum, Howard C.

    2017-01-01

    In our auditory environment, we rarely experience the exact acoustic waveform twice. This is especially true for communicative signals that have meaning for listeners. In speech and music, the acoustic signal changes as a function of the talker (or instrument), speaking (or playing) rate, and room acoustics, to name a few factors. Yet, despite this acoustic variability, we are able to recognize a sentence or melody as the same across various kinds of acoustic inputs and determine meaning based on listening goals, expectations, context, and experience. The recognition process relates acoustic signals to prior experience despite variability in signal-relevant and signal-irrelevant acoustic properties, some of which could be considered as “noise” in service of a recognition goal. However, some acoustic variability, if systematic, is lawful and can be exploited by listeners to aid in recognition. Perceivable changes in systematic variability can herald a need for listeners to reorganize perception and reorient their attention to more immediately signal-relevant cues. This view is not incorporated currently in many extant theories of auditory perception, which traditionally reduce psychological or neural representations of perceptual objects and the processes that act on them to static entities. While this reduction is likely done for the sake of empirical tractability, such a reduction may seriously distort the perceptual process to be modeled. We argue that perceptual representations, as well as the processes underlying perception, are dynamically determined by an interaction between the uncertainty of the auditory signal and constraints of context. This suggests that the process of auditory recognition is highly context-dependent in that the identity of a given auditory object may be intrinsically tied to its preceding context. To argue for the flexible neural and psychological updating of sound-to-meaning mappings across speech and music, we draw upon examples

  4. Cortical Representations of Speech in a Multitalker Auditory Scene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Puvvada, Krishna C; Simon, Jonathan Z

    2017-09-20

    The ability to parse a complex auditory scene into perceptual objects is facilitated by a hierarchical auditory system. Successive stages in the hierarchy transform an auditory scene of multiple overlapping sources, from peripheral tonotopically based representations in the auditory nerve, into perceptually distinct auditory-object-based representations in the auditory cortex. Here, using magnetoencephalography recordings from men and women, we investigate how a complex acoustic scene consisting of multiple speech sources is represented in distinct hierarchical stages of the auditory cortex. Using systems-theoretic methods of stimulus reconstruction, we show that the primary-like areas in the auditory cortex contain dominantly spectrotemporal-based representations of the entire auditory scene. Here, both attended and ignored speech streams are represented with almost equal fidelity, and a global representation of the full auditory scene with all its streams is a better candidate neural representation than that of individual streams being represented separately. We also show that higher-order auditory cortical areas, by contrast, represent the attended stream separately and with significantly higher fidelity than unattended streams. Furthermore, the unattended background streams are more faithfully represented as a single unsegregated background object rather than as separated objects. Together, these findings demonstrate the progression of the representations and processing of a complex acoustic scene up through the hierarchy of the human auditory cortex. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Using magnetoencephalography recordings from human listeners in a simulated cocktail party environment, we investigate how a complex acoustic scene consisting of multiple speech sources is represented in separate hierarchical stages of the auditory cortex. We show that the primary-like areas in the auditory cortex use a dominantly spectrotemporal-based representation of the entire auditory

  5. A virtual auditory environment for investigating the auditory signal processing of realistic sounds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Favrot, Sylvain Emmanuel; Buchholz, Jörg

    2008-01-01

    In the present study, a novel multichannel loudspeaker-based virtual auditory environment (VAE) is introduced. The VAE aims at providing a versatile research environment for investigating the auditory signal processing in real environments, i.e., considering multiple sound sources and room...... reverberation. The environment is based on the ODEON room acoustic simulation software to render the acoustical scene. ODEON outputs are processed using a combination of different order Ambisonic techniques to calculate multichannel room impulse responses (mRIR). Auralization is then obtained by the convolution...... the VAE development, special care was taken in order to achieve a realistic auditory percept and to avoid “artifacts” such as unnatural coloration. The performance of the VAE has been evaluated and optimized on a 29 loudspeaker setup using both objective and subjective measurement techniques....

  6. Auditory, visual, and auditory-visual perceptions of emotions by young children with hearing loss versus children with normal hearing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Most, Tova; Michaelis, Hilit

    2012-08-01

    This study aimed to investigate the effect of hearing loss (HL) on emotion-perception ability among young children with and without HL. A total of 26 children 4.0-6.6 years of age with prelingual sensory-neural HL ranging from moderate to profound and 14 children with normal hearing (NH) participated. They were asked to identify happiness, anger, sadness, and fear expressed by an actress when uttering the same neutral nonsense sentence. Their auditory, visual, and auditory-visual perceptions of the emotional content were assessed. The accuracy of emotion perception among children with HL was lower than that of the NH children in all 3 conditions: auditory, visual, and auditory-visual. Perception through the combined auditory-visual mode significantly surpassed the auditory or visual modes alone in both groups, indicating that children with HL utilized the auditory information for emotion perception. No significant differences in perception emerged according to degree of HL. In addition, children with profound HL and cochlear implants did not perform differently from children with less severe HL who used hearing aids. The relatively high accuracy of emotion perception by children with HL may be explained by their intensive rehabilitation, which emphasizes suprasegmental and paralinguistic aspects of verbal communication.

  7. Distraction by deviance: comparing the effects of auditory and visual deviant stimuli on auditory and visual target processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leiva, Alicia; Parmentier, Fabrice B R; Andrés, Pilar

    2015-01-01

    We report the results of oddball experiments in which an irrelevant stimulus (standard, deviant) was presented before a target stimulus and the modality of these stimuli was manipulated orthogonally (visual/auditory). Experiment 1 showed that auditory deviants yielded distraction irrespective of the target's modality while visual deviants did not impact on performance. When participants were forced to attend the distractors in order to detect a rare target ("target-distractor"), auditory deviants yielded distraction irrespective of the target's modality and visual deviants yielded a small distraction effect when targets were auditory (Experiments 2 & 3). Visual deviants only produced distraction for visual targets when deviant stimuli were not visually distinct from the other distractors (Experiment 4). Our results indicate that while auditory deviants yield distraction irrespective of the targets' modality, visual deviants only do so when attended and under selective conditions, at least when irrelevant and target stimuli are temporally and perceptually decoupled.

  8. Gauging the Auditory Dimensions of Dysarthric Impairment: Reliability and Construct Validity of the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (BoDyS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegler, Wolfram; Staiger, Anja; Schölderle, Theresa; Vogel, Mathias

    2017-01-01

    Purpose: Standardized clinical assessment of dysarthria is essential for management and research. We present a new, fully standardized dysarthria assessment, the Bogenhausen Dysarthria Scales (BoDyS). The measurement model of the BoDyS is based on auditory evaluations of connected speech using 9 scales (traits) assessed by 4 elicitation methods.…

  9. Visual-induced expectations modulate auditory cortical responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Virginie evan Wassenhove

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Active sensing has important consequences on multisensory processing (Schroeder et al. 2010. Here, we asked whether in the absence of saccades, the position of the eyes and the timing of transient colour changes of visual stimuli could selectively affect the excitability of auditory cortex by predicting the where and the when of a sound, respectively. Human participants were recorded with magnetoencephalography (MEG while maintaining the position of their eyes on the left, right, or centre of the screen. Participants counted colour changes of the fixation cross while neglecting sounds which could be presented to the left, right or both ears. First, clear alpha power increases were observed in auditory cortices, consistent with participants’ attention directed to visual inputs. Second, colour changes elicited robust modulations of auditory cortex responses (when prediction seen as ramping activity, early alpha phase-locked responses, and enhanced high-gamma band responses in the contralateral side of sound presentation. Third, no modulations of auditory evoked or oscillatory activity were found to be specific to eye position. Altogether, our results suggest that visual transience can automatically elicit a prediction of when a sound will occur by changing the excitability of auditory cortices irrespective of the attended modality, eye position or spatial congruency of auditory and visual events. To the contrary, auditory cortical responses were not significantly affected by eye position suggesting that where predictions may require active sensing or saccadic reset to modulate auditory cortex responses, notably in the absence of spatial orientation to sounds.

  10. Sensory Processing: Advances in Understanding Structure and Function of Pitch-Shifted Auditory Feedback in Voice Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charles R Larson

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available The pitch-shift paradigm has become a widely used method for studying the role of voice pitch auditory feedback in voice control. This paradigm introduces small, brief pitch shifts in voice auditory feedback to vocalizing subjects. The perturbations trigger a reflexive mechanism that counteracts the change in pitch. The underlying mechanisms of the vocal responses are thought to reflect a negative feedback control system that is similar to constructs developed to explain other forms of motor control. Another use of this technique requires subjects to voluntarily change the pitch of their voice when they hear a pitch shift stimulus. Under these conditions, short latency responses are produced that change voice pitch to match that of the stimulus. The pitch-shift technique has been used with magnetoencephalography (MEG and electroencephalography (EEG recordings, and has shown that at vocal onset there is normally a suppression of neural activity related to vocalization. However, if a pitch-shift is also presented at voice onset, there is a cancellation of this suppression, which has been interpreted to mean that one way in which a person distinguishes self-vocalization from vocalization of others is by a comparison of the intended voice and the actual voice. Studies of the pitch shift reflex in the fMRI environment show that the superior temporal gyrus (STG plays an important role in the process of controlling voice F0 based on auditory feedback. Additional studies using fMRI for effective connectivity modeling show that the left and right STG play critical roles in correcting for an error in voice production. While both the left and right STG are involved in this process, a feedback loop develops between left and right STG during perturbations, in which the left to right connection becomes stronger, and a new negative right to left connection emerges along with the emergence of other feedback loops within the cortical network tested.

  11. Naftidrofuryl affects neurite regeneration by injured adult auditory neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lefebvre, P P; Staecker, H; Moonen, G; van de Water, T R

    1993-07-01

    Afferent auditory neurons are essential for the transmission of auditory information from Corti's organ to the central auditory pathway. Auditory neurons are very sensitive to acute insult and have a limited ability to regenerate injured neuronal processes. Therefore, these neurons appear to be a limiting factor in restoration of hearing function following an injury to the peripheral auditory receptor. In a previous study nerve growth factor (NGF) was shown to stimulate neurite repair but not survival of injured auditory neurons. In this study, we have demonstrated a neuritogenesis promoting effect of naftidrofuryl in an vitro model for injury to adult auditory neurons, i.e. dissociated cell cultures of adult rat spiral ganglia. Conversely, naftidrofuryl did not have any demonstrable survival promoting effect on these in vitro preparations of injured auditory neurons. The potential uses of this drug as a therapeutic agent in acute diseases of the inner ear are discussed in the light of these observations.

  12. Formal auditory training in adult hearing aid users

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniela Gil

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Individuals with sensorineural hearing loss are often able to regain some lost auditory function with the help of hearing aids. However, hearing aids are not able to overcome auditory distortions such as impaired frequency resolution and speech understanding in noisy environments. The coexistence of peripheral hearing loss and a central auditory deficit may contribute to patient dissatisfaction with amplification, even when audiological tests indicate nearly normal hearing thresholds. OBJECTIVE: This study was designed to validate the effects of a formal auditory training program in adult hearing aid users with mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. METHODS: Fourteen bilateral hearing aid users were divided into two groups: seven who received auditory training and seven who did not. The training program was designed to improve auditory closure, figure-to-ground for verbal and nonverbal sounds and temporal processing (frequency and duration of sounds. Pre- and post-training evaluations included measuring electrophysiological and behavioral auditory processing and administration of the Abbreviated Profile of Hearing Aid Benefit (APHAB self-report scale. RESULTS: The post-training evaluation of the experimental group demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in P3 latency, improved performance in some of the behavioral auditory processing tests and higher hearing aid benefit in noisy situations (p-value < 0,05. No changes were noted for the control group (p-value <0,05. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that auditory training in adult hearing aid users can lead to a reduction in P3 latency, improvements in sound localization, memory for nonverbal sounds in sequence, auditory closure, figure-to-ground for verbal sounds and greater benefits in reverberant and noisy environments.

  13. The role of auditory cortices in the retrieval of single-trial auditory-visual object memories.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matusz, Pawel J; Thelen, Antonia; Amrein, Sarah; Geiser, Eveline; Anken, Jacques; Murray, Micah M

    2015-03-01

    Single-trial encounters with multisensory stimuli affect both memory performance and early-latency brain responses to visual stimuli. Whether and how auditory cortices support memory processes based on single-trial multisensory learning is unknown and may differ qualitatively and quantitatively from comparable processes within visual cortices due to purported differences in memory capacities across the senses. We recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) as healthy adults (n = 18) performed a continuous recognition task in the auditory modality, discriminating initial (new) from repeated (old) sounds of environmental objects. Initial presentations were either unisensory or multisensory; the latter entailed synchronous presentation of a semantically congruent or a meaningless image. Repeated presentations were exclusively auditory, thus differing only according to the context in which the sound was initially encountered. Discrimination abilities (indexed by d') were increased for repeated sounds that were initially encountered with a semantically congruent image versus sounds initially encountered with either a meaningless or no image. Analyses of ERPs within an electrical neuroimaging framework revealed that early stages of auditory processing of repeated sounds were affected by prior single-trial multisensory contexts. These effects followed from significantly reduced activity within a distributed network, including the right superior temporal cortex, suggesting an inverse relationship between brain activity and behavioural outcome on this task. The present findings demonstrate how auditory cortices contribute to long-term effects of multisensory experiences on auditory object discrimination. We propose a new framework for the efficacy of multisensory processes to impact both current multisensory stimulus processing and unisensory discrimination abilities later in time. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Emergence of auditory-visual relations from a visual-visual baseline with auditory-specific consequences in individuals with autism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varella, André A B; de Souza, Deisy G

    2014-07-01

    Empirical studies have demonstrated that class-specific contingencies may engender stimulus-reinforcer relations. In these studies, crossmodal relations emerged when crossmodal relations comprised the baseline, and intramodal relations emerged when intramodal relations were taught during baseline. This study investigated whether auditory-visual relations (crossmodal) would emerge after participants learned a visual-visual baseline (intramodal) with auditory stimuli presented as specific consequences. Four individuals with autism learned AB and CD relations with class-specific reinforcers. When A1 and C1 were presented as samples, the selections of B1 and D1, respectively, were followed by an edible (R1) and a sound (S1). Selections of B2 and D2 under the control of A2 and C2, respectively, were followed by R2 and S2. Probe trials tested for visual-visual AC, CA, AD, DA, BC, CB, BD, and DB emergent relations and auditory-visual SA, SB, SC, and SD emergent relations. All of the participants demonstrated the emergence of all auditory-visual relations, and three of four participants showed emergence of all visual-visual relations. Thus, the emergence of auditory-visual relations from specific auditory consequences suggests that these relations do not depend on crossmodal baseline training. The procedure has great potential for applied technology to generate auditory-visual discriminations and stimulus classes in the context of behavior-analytic interventions for autism. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  15. Resting-state functional connectivity and pitch identification ability in non-musicians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiancheng eHou

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Previous studies have used task-related fMRI to investigate the neural basis of pitch identification (PI, but no study has examined the associations between resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC and PI ability. Using a large sample of Chinese non-musicians (N = 320, with 56 having prior musical training, the current study examined the associations among musical training, PI ability, and RSFC. Results showed that musical training was associated with increased RSFC within the networks for multiple cognitive functions (such as vision, phonology, semantics, auditory encoding, and executive functions. PI ability was associated with RSFC with regions for perceptual and auditory encoding for participants with musical training, and with RSFC with regions for short-term memory, semantics, and phonology for participants without musical training.

  16. Increased BOLD Signals Elicited by High Gamma Auditory Stimulation of the Left Auditory Cortex in Acute State Schizophrenia

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    Hironori Kuga, M.D.

    2016-10-01

    We acquired BOLD responses elicited by click trains of 20, 30, 40 and 80-Hz frequencies from 15 patients with acute episode schizophrenia (AESZ, 14 symptom-severity-matched patients with non-acute episode schizophrenia (NASZ, and 24 healthy controls (HC, assessed via a standard general linear-model-based analysis. The AESZ group showed significantly increased ASSR-BOLD signals to 80-Hz stimuli in the left auditory cortex compared with the HC and NASZ groups. In addition, enhanced 80-Hz ASSR-BOLD signals were associated with more severe auditory hallucination experiences in AESZ participants. The present results indicate that neural over activation occurs during 80-Hz auditory stimulation of the left auditory cortex in individuals with acute state schizophrenia. Given the possible association between abnormal gamma activity and increased glutamate levels, our data may reflect glutamate toxicity in the auditory cortex in the acute state of schizophrenia, which might lead to progressive changes in the left transverse temporal gyrus.

  17. Auditory cortical processing in real-world listening: the auditory system going real.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelken, Israel; Bizley, Jennifer; Shamma, Shihab A; Wang, Xiaoqin

    2014-11-12

    The auditory sense of humans transforms intrinsically senseless pressure waveforms into spectacularly rich perceptual phenomena: the music of Bach or the Beatles, the poetry of Li Bai or Omar Khayyam, or more prosaically the sense of the world filled with objects emitting sounds that is so important for those of us lucky enough to have hearing. Whereas the early representations of sounds in the auditory system are based on their physical structure, higher auditory centers are thought to represent sounds in terms of their perceptual attributes. In this symposium, we will illustrate the current research into this process, using four case studies. We will illustrate how the spectral and temporal properties of sounds are used to bind together, segregate, categorize, and interpret sound patterns on their way to acquire meaning, with important lessons to other sensory systems as well. Copyright © 2014 the authors 0270-6474/14/3415135-04$15.00/0.

  18. GABA(A) receptors in visual and auditory cortex and neural activity changes during basic visual stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, Pengmin; Duncan, Niall W; Wiebking, Christine; Gravel, Paul; Lyttelton, Oliver; Hayes, Dave J; Verhaeghe, Jeroen; Kostikov, Alexey; Schirrmacher, Ralf; Reader, Andrew J; Northoff, Georg

    2012-01-01

    Recent imaging studies have demonstrated that levels of resting γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the visual cortex predict the degree of stimulus-induced activity in the same region. These studies have used the presentation of discrete visual stimulus; the change from closed eyes to open also represents a simple visual stimulus, however, and has been shown to induce changes in local brain activity and in functional connectivity between regions. We thus aimed to investigate the role of the GABA system, specifically GABA(A) receptors, in the changes in brain activity between the eyes closed (EC) and eyes open (EO) state in order to provide detail at the receptor level to complement previous studies of GABA concentrations. We conducted an fMRI study involving two different modes of the change from EC to EO: an EO and EC block design, allowing the modeling of the haemodynamic response, followed by longer periods of EC and EO to allow the measuring of functional connectivity. The same subjects also underwent [(18)F]Flumazenil PET to measure GABA(A) receptor binding potentials. It was demonstrated that the local-to-global ratio of GABA(A) receptor binding potential in the visual cortex predicted the degree of changes in neural activity from EC to EO. This same relationship was also shown in the auditory cortex. Furthermore, the local-to-global ratio of GABA(A) receptor binding potential in the visual cortex also predicted the change in functional connectivity between the visual and auditory cortex from EC to EO. These findings contribute to our understanding of the role of GABA(A) receptors in stimulus-induced neural activity in local regions and in inter-regional functional connectivity.

  19. Auditory Neuropathy

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... children and adults with auditory neuropathy. Cochlear implants (electronic devices that compensate for damaged or nonworking parts ... and Drug Administration: Information on Cochlear Implants Telecommunications Relay Services Your Baby's Hearing Screening News Deaf health ...

  20. Dynamics of auditory working memory

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    Jochen eKaiser

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Working memory denotes the ability to retain stimuli in mind that are no longer physically present and to perform mental operations on them. Electro- and magnetoencephalography allow investigating the short-term maintenance of acoustic stimuli at a high temporal resolution. Studies investigating working memory for non-spatial and spatial auditory information have suggested differential roles of regions along the putative auditory ventral and dorsal streams, respectively, in the processing of the different sound properties. Analyses of event-related potentials have shown sustained, memory load-dependent deflections over the retention periods. The topography of these waves suggested an involvement of modality-specific sensory storage regions. Spectral analysis has yielded information about the temporal dynamics of auditory working memory processing of individual stimuli, showing activation peaks during the delay phase whose timing was related to task performance. Coherence at different frequencies was enhanced between frontal and sensory cortex. In summary, auditory working memory seems to rely on the dynamic interplay between frontal executive systems and sensory representation regions.

  1. Speech Evoked Auditory Brainstem Response in Stuttering

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    Ali Akbar Tahaei

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Auditory processing deficits have been hypothesized as an underlying mechanism for stuttering. Previous studies have demonstrated abnormal responses in subjects with persistent developmental stuttering (PDS at the higher level of the central auditory system using speech stimuli. Recently, the potential usefulness of speech evoked auditory brainstem responses in central auditory processing disorders has been emphasized. The current study used the speech evoked ABR to investigate the hypothesis that subjects with PDS have specific auditory perceptual dysfunction. Objectives. To determine whether brainstem responses to speech stimuli differ between PDS subjects and normal fluent speakers. Methods. Twenty-five subjects with PDS participated in this study. The speech-ABRs were elicited by the 5-formant synthesized syllable/da/, with duration of 40 ms. Results. There were significant group differences for the onset and offset transient peaks. Subjects with PDS had longer latencies for the onset and offset peaks relative to the control group. Conclusions. Subjects with PDS showed a deficient neural timing in the early stages of the auditory pathway consistent with temporal processing deficits and their abnormal timing may underlie to their disfluency.

  2. Auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Michael A; Evans, Karla K; Horowitz, Todd S; Wolfe, Jeremy M

    2011-06-01

    Numerous studies have shown that musicians outperform nonmusicians on a variety of tasks. Here we provide the first evidence that musicians have superior auditory recognition memory for both musical and nonmusical stimuli, compared to nonmusicians. However, this advantage did not generalize to the visual domain. Previously, we showed that auditory recognition memory is inferior to visual recognition memory. Would this be true even for trained musicians? We compared auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians using familiar music, spoken English, and visual objects. For both groups, memory for the auditory stimuli was inferior to memory for the visual objects. Thus, although considerable musical training is associated with better musical and nonmusical auditory memory, it does not increase the ability to remember sounds to the levels found with visual stimuli. This suggests a fundamental capacity difference between auditory and visual recognition memory, with a persistent advantage for the visual domain.

  3. Auditory hallucinations and PTSD in ex-POWS

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Crompton, Laura; Lahav, Yael; Solomon, Zahava

    2017-01-01

    (PTSD) symptoms, over time. Former prisoners of war (ex-POWs) from the 1973 Yom Kippur War (n = 99) with and without PTSD and comparable veterans (n = 103) were assessed twice, in 1991 (T1) and 2003 (T2) in regard to auditory hallucinations and PTSD symptoms. Findings indicated that ex-POWs who suffered...... from PTSD reported higher levels of auditory hallucinations at T2 as well as increased hallucinations over time, compared to ex-POWs without PTSD and combatants who did not endure captivity. The relation between PTSD and auditory hallucinations was unidirectional, so that the PTSD overall score at T1...... predicted an increase in auditory hallucinations between T1 and T2, but not vice versa. Assessing the role of PTSD clusters in predicting hallucinations revealed that intrusion symptoms had a unique contribution, compared to avoidance and hyperarousal symptoms. The findings suggest that auditory...

  4. Functional mapping of the primate auditory system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poremba, Amy; Saunders, Richard C; Crane, Alison M; Cook, Michelle; Sokoloff, Louis; Mishkin, Mortimer

    2003-01-24

    Cerebral auditory areas were delineated in the awake, passively listening, rhesus monkey by comparing the rates of glucose utilization in an intact hemisphere and in an acoustically isolated contralateral hemisphere of the same animal. The auditory system defined in this way occupied large portions of cerebral tissue, an extent probably second only to that of the visual system. Cortically, the activated areas included the entire superior temporal gyrus and large portions of the parietal, prefrontal, and limbic lobes. Several auditory areas overlapped with previously identified visual areas, suggesting that the auditory system, like the visual system, contains separate pathways for processing stimulus quality, location, and motion.

  5. The effects of hemorrhagic parenchymal infarction on the establishment of sensori-motor structural and functional connectivity in early infancy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arichi, T.; Edwards, A.D.; Counsell, S.J.; Mondi, V.; Tusor, N.; Merchant, N.; Allievi, A.G.; Burdet, E.; Chew, A.T.; Martinez-Biarge, M.; Cowan, F.M.

    2014-01-01

    The objective of the study was to characterize alterations of structural and functional connectivity within the developing sensori-motor system in infants with focal perinatal brain injury and at high risk of cerebral palsy. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were used to study the developing functional and structural connectivity framework in six infants born prematurely at term equivalent age. This was first characterised in three infants without focal pathology, which was then compared to that derived from three infants with unilateral haemorrhagic parenchymal infarction and a subsequent focal periventricular white matter lesion who developed later haemiparesis. Functional responses to passive hand movement were in the contralateral perirolandic cortex, regardless of focal pathology. In infants with unilateral periventricular injury, afferent thalamo-cortical tracts appeared to have developed compensatory trajectories which circumvented areas of damage. In contrast, efferent corticospinal tracts showed marked asymmetry at term equivalent age following focal brain injury. Sensori-motor network analysis suggested that inter-hemispheric functional connectivity is largely preserved despite pathology and that impairment may be associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Following focal perinatal brain injury, altered structural and functional connectivity is already present and can be characterized with MRI at term equivalent age. The results of this small case series suggest that these techniques may provide valuable new information about prognosis and the pathophysiology underlying cerebral palsy. (orig.)

  6. The effects of hemorrhagic parenchymal infarction on the establishment of sensori-motor structural and functional connectivity in early infancy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Arichi, T.; Edwards, A.D. [Kings College London, St Thomas' Hospital, Department of Perinatal Imaging and Health, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, London (United Kingdom); Imperial College London, Department of Bioengineering, London (United Kingdom); Counsell, S.J.; Mondi, V.; Tusor, N.; Merchant, N. [Kings College London, St Thomas' Hospital, Department of Perinatal Imaging and Health, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, London (United Kingdom); Allievi, A.G.; Burdet, E. [Imperial College London, Department of Bioengineering, London (United Kingdom); Chew, A.T. [Kings College London, St Thomas' Hospital, Department of Perinatal Imaging and Health, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, London (United Kingdom); Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Department of Paediatrics, London (United Kingdom); Martinez-Biarge, M.; Cowan, F.M. [Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, Department of Paediatrics, London (United Kingdom)

    2014-11-15

    The objective of the study was to characterize alterations of structural and functional connectivity within the developing sensori-motor system in infants with focal perinatal brain injury and at high risk of cerebral palsy. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data were used to study the developing functional and structural connectivity framework in six infants born prematurely at term equivalent age. This was first characterised in three infants without focal pathology, which was then compared to that derived from three infants with unilateral haemorrhagic parenchymal infarction and a subsequent focal periventricular white matter lesion who developed later haemiparesis. Functional responses to passive hand movement were in the contralateral perirolandic cortex, regardless of focal pathology. In infants with unilateral periventricular injury, afferent thalamo-cortical tracts appeared to have developed compensatory trajectories which circumvented areas of damage. In contrast, efferent corticospinal tracts showed marked asymmetry at term equivalent age following focal brain injury. Sensori-motor network analysis suggested that inter-hemispheric functional connectivity is largely preserved despite pathology and that impairment may be associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcome. Following focal perinatal brain injury, altered structural and functional connectivity is already present and can be characterized with MRI at term equivalent age. The results of this small case series suggest that these techniques may provide valuable new information about prognosis and the pathophysiology underlying cerebral palsy. (orig.)

  7. Association of Thalamic Dysconnectivity and Conversion to Psychosis in Youth and Young Adults at Elevated Clinical Risk

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anticevic, Alan; Haut, Kristen; Murray, John D.; Repovs, Grega; Yang, Genevieve J.; Diehl, Caroline; McEwen, Sarah C.; Bearden, Carrie E.; Addington, Jean; Goodyear, Bradley; Cadenhead, Kristin S.; Mirzakhanian, Heline; Cornblatt, Barbara A.; Olvet, Doreen; Mathalon, Daniel H.; McGlashan, Thomas H.; Perkins, Diana O.; Belger, Aysenil; Seidman, Larry J.; Tsuang, Ming T.; van Erp, Theo G. M.; Walker, Elaine F; Hamann, Stephan; Woods, Scott W; Qiu, Maolin; Cannon, Tyrone D.

    2016-01-01

    IMPORTANCE Severe neuropsychiatric conditions, such as schizophrenia, affect distributed neural computations. One candidate system profoundly altered in chronic schizophrenia involves the thalamocortical networks. It is widely acknowledged that schizophrenia is a neurodevelopmental disorder that likely affects the brain before onset of clinical symptoms. However, no investigation has tested whether thalamocortical connectivity is altered in individuals at risk for psychosis or whether this pattern is more severe in individuals who later develop full-blown illness. OBJECTIVES To determine whether baseline thalamocortical connectivity differs between individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis and healthy controls, whether this pattern is more severe in those who later convert to full-blown illness, and whether magnitude of thalamocortical dysconnectivity is associated with baseline prodromal symptom severity. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In this multicenter, 2-year follow-up, case-control study, we examined 397 participants aged 12–35 years of age (243 individuals at clinical high risk of psychosis, of whom 21 converted to full-blown illness, and 154 healthy controls). The baseline scan dates were January 15, 2010, to April 30, 2012. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Whole-brain thalamic functional connectivity maps were generated using individuals’ anatomically defined thalamic seeds, measured using resting-state functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging. RESULTS Using baseline magnetic resonance images, we identified thalamocortical dysconnectivity in the 243 individuals at clinical high risk for psychosis, which was particularly pronounced in the 21 participants who converted to full-blown illness. The pattern involved widespread hypoconnectivity between the thalamus and prefrontal and cerebellar areas, which was more prominent in those who converted to full-blown illness (t173 = 3.77, P < .001, Hedge g = 0.88). Conversely, there was marked

  8. Auditory recognition memory is inferior to visual recognition memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cohen, Michael A; Horowitz, Todd S; Wolfe, Jeremy M

    2009-04-07

    Visual memory for scenes is surprisingly robust. We wished to examine whether an analogous ability exists in the auditory domain. Participants listened to a variety of sound clips and were tested on their ability to distinguish old from new clips. Stimuli ranged from complex auditory scenes (e.g., talking in a pool hall) to isolated auditory objects (e.g., a dog barking) to music. In some conditions, additional information was provided to help participants with encoding. In every situation, however, auditory memory proved to be systematically inferior to visual memory. This suggests that there exists either a fundamental difference between auditory and visual stimuli, or, more plausibly, an asymmetry between auditory and visual processing.

  9. Alterations in Neuronal Activity in Basal Ganglia-Thalamocortical Circuits in the Parkinsonian State

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriana eGalvan

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available In patients with Parkinson’s disease and in animal models of this disorder, neurons in the basal ganglia and related regions in thalamus and cortex show changes that can be recorded by using electrophysiologic single-cell recording techniques, including altered firing rates and patterns, pathologic oscillatory activity and increased inter-neuronal synchronization. In addition, changes in synaptic potentials or in the joint spiking activities of populations of neurons can be monitored as alterations in local field potentials, electroencephalograms or electrocorticograms. Most of the mentioned electrophysiologic changes are probably related to the degeneration of diencephalic dopaminergic neurons, leading to dopamine loss in the striatum and other basal ganglia nuclei, although degeneration of non-dopaminergic cell groups may also have a role. The altered electrical activity of the basal ganglia and associated nuclei may contribute to some of the motor signs of the disease. We here review the current knowledge of the electrophysiologic changes at the single cell level, the level of local populations of neural elements, and the level of the entire basal ganglia-thalamocortical network in parkinsonism, and discuss the possible use of this information to optimize treatment approaches to Parkinson’s disease, such as deep brain stimulation therapy.

  10. Alterations in neuronal activity in basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuits in the parkinsonian state

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galvan, Adriana; Devergnas, Annaelle; Wichmann, Thomas

    2015-01-01

    In patients with Parkinson’s disease and in animal models of this disorder, neurons in the basal ganglia and related regions in thalamus and cortex show changes that can be recorded by using electrophysiologic single-cell recording techniques, including altered firing rates and patterns, pathologic oscillatory activity and increased inter-neuronal synchronization. In addition, changes in synaptic potentials or in the joint spiking activities of populations of neurons can be monitored as alterations in local field potentials (LFPs), electroencephalograms (EEGs) or electrocorticograms (ECoGs). Most of the mentioned electrophysiologic changes are probably related to the degeneration of diencephalic dopaminergic neurons, leading to dopamine loss in the striatum and other basal ganglia nuclei, although degeneration of non-dopaminergic cell groups may also have a role. The altered electrical activity of the basal ganglia and associated nuclei may contribute to some of the motor signs of the disease. We here review the current knowledge of the electrophysiologic changes at the single cell level, the level of local populations of neural elements, and the level of the entire basal ganglia-thalamocortical network in parkinsonism, and discuss the possible use of this information to optimize treatment approaches to Parkinson’s disease, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) therapy. PMID:25698937

  11. Thalamocortical dynamics of the McCollough effect: boundary-surface alignment through perceptual learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grossberg, Stephen; Hwang, Seungwoo; Mingolla, Ennio

    2002-05-01

    This article further develops the FACADE neural model of 3-D vision and figure-ground perception to quantitatively explain properties of the McCollough effect (ME). The model proposes that many ME data result from visual system mechanisms whose primary function is to adaptively align, through learning, boundary and surface representations that are positionally shifted due to the process of binocular fusion. For example, binocular boundary representations are shifted by binocular fusion relative to monocular surface representations, yet the boundaries must become positionally aligned with the surfaces to control binocular surface capture and filling-in. The model also includes perceptual reset mechanisms that use habituative transmitters in opponent processing circuits. Thus the model shows how ME data may arise from a combination of mechanisms that have a clear functional role in biological vision. Simulation results with a single set of parameters quantitatively fit data from 13 experiments that probe the nature of achromatic/chromatic and monocular/binocular interactions during induction of the ME. The model proposes how perceptual learning, opponent processing, and habituation at both monocular and binocular surface representations are involved, including early thalamocortical sites. In particular, it explains the anomalous ME utilizing these multiple processing sites. Alternative models of the ME are also summarized and compared with the present model.

  12. Alterations in the properties of neonatal thalamocortical synapses with time in in vitro slices.

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    Liliana L Luz

    Full Text Available New synapses are constantly being generated and lost in the living brain with only a subset of these being stabilized to form an enduring component of neuronal circuitry. The properties of synaptic transmission have primarily been established in a variety of in vitro neuronal preparations. It is not clear, however, if newly-formed and persistent synapses contribute to the results of these studies consistently throughout the lifespan of these preparations. In neonatal somatosensory, barrel, cortex we have previously hypothesized that a population of thalamocortical synapses displaying unusually slow kinetics represent newly-formed, default-transient synapses. This clear phenotype would provide an ideal tool to investigate if such newly formed synapses consistently contribute to synaptic transmission throughout a normal experimental protocol. We show that the proportion of synapses recorded in vitro displaying slow kinetics decreases with time after brain slice preparation. However, slow synapses persist in vitro in the presence of either minocycline, an inhibitor of microglia-mediated synapse elimination, or the TrkB agonist 7,8-dihydroxyflavone a promoter of synapse formation. These findings show that the observed properties of synaptic transmission may systematically change with time in vitro in a standard brain slice preparation.

  13. Reduced auditory efferent activity in childhood selective mutism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bar-Haim, Yair; Henkin, Yael; Ari-Even-Roth, Daphne; Tetin-Schneider, Simona; Hildesheimer, Minka; Muchnik, Chava

    2004-06-01

    Selective mutism is a psychiatric disorder of childhood characterized by consistent inability to speak in specific situations despite the ability to speak normally in others. The objective of this study was to test whether reduced auditory efferent activity, which may have direct bearings on speaking behavior, is compromised in selectively mute children. Participants were 16 children with selective mutism and 16 normally developing control children matched for age and gender. All children were tested for pure-tone audiometry, speech reception thresholds, speech discrimination, middle-ear acoustic reflex thresholds and decay function, transient evoked otoacoustic emission, suppression of transient evoked otoacoustic emission, and auditory brainstem response. Compared with control children, selectively mute children displayed specific deficiencies in auditory efferent activity. These aberrations in efferent activity appear along with normal pure-tone and speech audiometry and normal brainstem transmission as indicated by auditory brainstem response latencies. The diminished auditory efferent activity detected in some children with SM may result in desensitization of their auditory pathways by self-vocalization and in reduced control of masking and distortion of incoming speech sounds. These children may gradually learn to restrict vocalization to the minimal amount possible in contexts that require complex auditory processing.

  14. The effects of divided attention on auditory priming.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulligan, Neil W; Duke, Marquinn; Cooper, Angela W

    2007-09-01

    Traditional theorizing stresses the importance of attentional state during encoding for later memory, based primarily on research with explicit memory. Recent research has begun to investigate the role of attention in implicit memory but has focused almost exclusively on priming in the visual modality. The present experiments examined the effect of divided attention on auditory implicit memory, using auditory perceptual identification, word-stem completion and word-fragment completion. Participants heard study words under full attention conditions or while simultaneously carrying out a distractor task (the divided attention condition). In Experiment 1, a distractor task with low response frequency failed to disrupt later auditory priming (but diminished explicit memory as assessed with auditory recognition). In Experiment 2, a distractor task with greater response frequency disrupted priming on all three of the auditory priming tasks as well as the explicit test. These results imply that although auditory priming is less reliant on attention than explicit memory, it is still greatly affected by at least some divided-attention manipulations. These results are consistent with research using visual priming tasks and have relevance for hypotheses regarding attention and auditory priming.

  15. Auditory memory function in expert chess players.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fattahi, Fariba; Geshani, Ahmad; Jafari, Zahra; Jalaie, Shohreh; Salman Mahini, Mona

    2015-01-01

    Chess is a game that involves many aspects of high level cognition such as memory, attention, focus and problem solving. Long term practice of chess can improve cognition performances and behavioral skills. Auditory memory, as a kind of memory, can be influenced by strengthening processes following long term chess playing like other behavioral skills because of common processing pathways in the brain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the auditory memory function of expert chess players using the Persian version of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test. The Persian version of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test was performed for 30 expert chess players aged 20-35 years and 30 non chess players who were matched by different conditions; the participants in both groups were randomly selected. The performance of the two groups was compared by independent samples t-test using SPSS version 21. The mean score of dichotic auditory-verbal memory test between the two groups, expert chess players and non-chess players, revealed a significant difference (p≤ 0.001). The difference between the ears scores for expert chess players (p= 0.023) and non-chess players (p= 0.013) was significant. Gender had no effect on the test results. Auditory memory function in expert chess players was significantly better compared to non-chess players. It seems that increased auditory memory function is related to strengthening cognitive performances due to playing chess for a long time.

  16. Aging increases distraction by auditory oddballs in visual, but not auditory tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leiva, Alicia; Parmentier, Fabrice B R; Andrés, Pilar

    2015-05-01

    Aging is typically considered to bring a reduction of the ability to resist distraction by task-irrelevant stimuli. Yet recent work suggests that this conclusion must be qualified and that the effect of aging is mitigated by whether irrelevant and target stimuli emanate from the same modalities or from distinct ones. Some studies suggest that aging is especially sensitive to distraction within-modality while others suggest it is greater across modalities. Here we report the first study to measure the effect of aging on deviance distraction in cross-modal (auditory-visual) and uni-modal (auditory-auditory) oddball tasks. Young and older adults were asked to judge the parity of target digits (auditory or visual in distinct blocks of trials), each preceded by a task-irrelevant sound (the same tone on most trials-the standard sound-or, on rare and unpredictable trials, a burst of white noise-the deviant sound). Deviant sounds yielded distraction (longer response times relative to standard sounds) in both tasks and age groups. However, an age-related increase in distraction was observed in the cross-modal task and not in the uni-modal task. We argue that aging might affect processes involved in the switching of attention across modalities and speculate that this may due to the slowing of this type of attentional shift or a reduction in cognitive control required to re-orient attention toward the target's modality.

  17. Resting-state functional connectivity in medication-naïve schizophrenia patients with and without auditory verbal hallucinations : A preliminary report

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Chang, Xiao; Collin, Guusje; Xi, Yibin; Cui, Longbiao; Scholtens, Lianne H.; Sommer, Iris E.; Wang, Huaning; Yin, Hong; Kahn, René S.; van den Heuvel, Martijn P.

    2017-01-01

    Auditory verbal hallucinations (AVH) are a cardinal feature of schizophrenia that has been associated with activation in language processing areas, in concert with higher-order cognitive brain networks. It remains to be determined whether, and if so how, the functional dynamics between these brain

  18. Aberrant functional connectivity of resting state networks in transient ischemic attack.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rong Li

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Transient ischemic attack (TIA is usually defined as a neurologic ischemic disorder without permanent cerebral infarction. Studies have showed that patients with TIA can have lasting cognitive functional impairment. Inherent brain activity in the resting state is spatially organized in a set of specific coherent patterns named resting state networks (RSNs, which epitomize the functional architecture of memory, language, attention, visual, auditory and somato-motor networks. Here, we aimed to detect differences in RSNs between TIA patients and healthy controls (HCs. METHODS: Twenty one TIA patients suffered an ischemic event and 21 matched HCs were enrolled in the study. All subjects were investigated using cognitive tests, psychiatric tests and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI. Independent component analysis (ICA was adopted to acquire the eight brain RSNs. Then one-sample t-tests were calculated in each group to gather the spatial maps of each RSNs, followed by second level analysis to investigate statistical differences on RSNs between twenty one TIA patients and 21 controls. Furthermore, a correlation analysis was performed to explore the relationship between functional connectivity (FC and cognitive and psychiatric scales in TIA group. RESULTS: Compared with the controls, TIA patients exhibited both decreased and increased functional connectivity in default mode network (DMN and self-referential network (SRN, and decreased functional connectivity in dorsal attention network (DAN, central-executive network (CEN, core network (CN, somato-motor network (SMN, visual network (VN and auditory network (AN. There was no correlation between neuropsychological scores and functional connectivity in regions of RSNs. CONCLUSIONS: We observed selective impairments of RSN intrinsic FC in TIA patients, whose all eight RSNs had aberrant functional connectivity. These changes indicate that TIA is a disease with widely abnormal brain

  19. Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Fan-Gang; Kong, Ying-Yee; Michalewski, Henry J; Starr, Arnold

    2005-06-01

    Perceptual consequences of disrupted auditory nerve activity were systematically studied in 21 subjects who had been clinically diagnosed with auditory neuropathy (AN), a recently defined disorder characterized by normal outer hair cell function but disrupted auditory nerve function. Neurological and electrophysical evidence suggests that disrupted auditory nerve activity is due to desynchronized or reduced neural activity or both. Psychophysical measures showed that the disrupted neural activity has minimal effects on intensity-related perception, such as loudness discrimination, pitch discrimination at high frequencies, and sound localization using interaural level differences. In contrast, the disrupted neural activity significantly impairs timing related perception, such as pitch discrimination at low frequencies, temporal integration, gap detection, temporal modulation detection, backward and forward masking, signal detection in noise, binaural beats, and sound localization using interaural time differences. These perceptual consequences are the opposite of what is typically observed in cochlear-impaired subjects who have impaired intensity perception but relatively normal temporal processing after taking their impaired intensity perception into account. These differences in perceptual consequences between auditory neuropathy and cochlear damage suggest the use of different neural codes in auditory perception: a suboptimal spike count code for intensity processing, a synchronized spike code for temporal processing, and a duplex code for frequency processing. We also proposed two underlying physiological models based on desynchronized and reduced discharge in the auditory nerve to successfully account for the observed neurological and behavioral data. These methods and measures cannot differentiate between these two AN models, but future studies using electric stimulation of the auditory nerve via a cochlear implant might. These results not only show the unique

  20. Comorbidity of Auditory Processing, Language, and Reading Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharma, Mridula; Purdy, Suzanne C.; Kelly, Andrea S.

    2009-01-01

    Purpose: The authors assessed comorbidity of auditory processing disorder (APD), language impairment (LI), and reading disorder (RD) in school-age children. Method: Children (N = 68) with suspected APD and nonverbal IQ standard scores of 80 or more were assessed using auditory, language, reading, attention, and memory measures. Auditory processing…

  1. Auditory Preferences of Young Children with and without Hearing Loss for Meaningful Auditory-Visual Compound Stimuli

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zupan, Barbra; Sussman, Joan E.

    2009-01-01

    Experiment 1 examined modality preferences in children and adults with normal hearing to combined auditory-visual stimuli. Experiment 2 compared modality preferences in children using cochlear implants participating in an auditory emphasized therapy approach to the children with normal hearing from Experiment 1. A second objective in both…

  2. Cross-modal processing in auditory and visual working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suchan, Boris; Linnewerth, Britta; Köster, Odo; Daum, Irene; Schmid, Gebhard

    2006-02-01

    This study aimed to further explore processing of auditory and visual stimuli in working memory. Smith and Jonides (1997) [Smith, E.E., Jonides, J., 1997. Working memory: A view from neuroimaging. Cogn. Psychol. 33, 5-42] described a modified working memory model in which visual input is automatically transformed into a phonological code. To study this process, auditory and the corresponding visual stimuli were presented in a variant of the 2-back task which involved changes from the auditory to the visual modality and vice versa. Brain activation patterns underlying visual and auditory processing as well as transformation mechanisms were analyzed. Results yielded a significant activation in the left primary auditory cortex associated with transformation of visual into auditory information which reflects the matching and recoding of a stored item and its modality. This finding yields empirical evidence for a transformation of visual input into a phonological code, with the auditory cortex as the neural correlate of the recoding process in working memory.

  3. Auditory motion capturing ambiguous visual motion

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Arjen eAlink

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available In this study, it is demonstrated that moving sounds have an effect on the direction in which one sees visual stimuli move. During the main experiment sounds were presented consecutively at four speaker locations inducing left- or rightwards auditory apparent motion. On the path of auditory apparent motion, visual apparent motion stimuli were presented with a high degree of directional ambiguity. The main outcome of this experiment is that our participants perceived visual apparent motion stimuli that were ambiguous (equally likely to be perceived as moving left- or rightwards more often as moving in the same direction than in the opposite direction of auditory apparent motion. During the control experiment we replicated this finding and found no effect of sound motion direction on eye movements. This indicates that auditory motion can capture our visual motion percept when visual motion direction is insufficiently determinate without affecting eye movements.

  4. Auditory/visual distance estimation: accuracy and variability

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    Paul Wallace Anderson

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Past research has shown that auditory distance estimation improves when listeners are given the opportunity to see all possible sound sources when compared to no visual input. It has also been established that distance estimation is more accurate in vision than in audition. The present study investigates the degree to which auditory distance estimation is improved when matched with a congruent visual stimulus. Virtual sound sources based on binaural room impulse response (BRIR measurements made from distances ranging from approximately 0.3 to 9.8 m in a concert hall were used as auditory stimuli. Visual stimuli were photographs taken from the listener’s perspective at each distance in the impulse response measurement setup presented on a large HDTV monitor. Listeners were asked to estimate egocentric distance to the sound source in each of three conditions: auditory only (A, visual only (V, and congruent auditory/visual stimuli (A+V. Each condition was presented within its own block. Sixty-two listeners were tested in order to quantify the response variability inherent in auditory distance perception. Distance estimates from both the V and A+V conditions were found to be considerably more accurate and less variable than estimates from the A condition.

  5. Auditory Hypersensitivity in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucker, Jay R.

    2013-01-01

    A review of records was completed to determine whether children with auditory hypersensitivities have difficulty tolerating loud sounds due to auditory-system factors or some other factors not directly involving the auditory system. Records of 150 children identified as not meeting autism spectrum disorders (ASD) criteria and another 50 meeting…

  6. The expression and activity of β-catenin in the thalamus and its projections to the cerebral cortex in the mouse embryo

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    Pratt Thomas

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The mammalian thalamus relays sensory information from the periphery to the cerebral cortex for cognitive processing via the thalamocortical tract. The thalamocortical tract forms during embryonic development controlled by mechanisms that are not fully understood. β-catenin is a nuclear and cytosolic protein that transduces signals from secreted signaling molecules to regulate both cell motility via the cytoskeleton and gene expression in the nucleus. In this study we tested whether β-catenin is likely to play a role in thalamocortical connectivity by examining its expression and activity in developing thalamic neurons and their axons. Results At embryonic day (E15.5, the time when thalamocortical axonal projections are forming, we found that the thalamus is a site of particularly high β-catenin mRNA and protein expression. As well as being expressed at high levels in thalamic cell bodies, β-catenin protein is enriched in the axons and growth cones of thalamic axons and its growth cone concentration is sensitive to Netrin-1. Using mice carrying the β-catenin reporter BAT-gal we find high levels of reporter activity in the thalamus. Further, Netrin-1 induces BAT-gal reporter expression and upregulates levels of endogenous transcripts encoding β-actin and L1 proteins in cultured thalamic cells. We found that β-catenin mRNA is enriched in thalamic axons and its 3'UTR is phylogenetically conserved and is able to direct heterologous mRNAs along the thalamic axon, where they can be translated. Conclusion We provide evidence that β-catenin protein is likely to be an important player in thalamocortcial development. It is abundant both in the nucleus and in the growth cones of post-mitotic thalamic cells during the development of thalamocortical connectivity and β-catenin mRNA is targeted to thalamic axons and growth cones where it could potentially be translated. β-catenin is involved in transducing the Netrin-1 signal to

  7. At the interface of the auditory and vocal motor systems: NIf and its role in vocal processing, production and learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lewandowski, Brian; Vyssotski, Alexei; Hahnloser, Richard H R; Schmidt, Marc

    2013-06-01

    Communication between auditory and vocal motor nuclei is essential for vocal learning. In songbirds, the nucleus interfacialis of the nidopallium (NIf) is part of a sensorimotor loop, along with auditory nucleus avalanche (Av) and song system nucleus HVC, that links the auditory and song systems. Most of the auditory information comes through this sensorimotor loop, with the projection from NIf to HVC representing the largest single source of auditory information to the song system. In addition to providing the majority of HVC's auditory input, NIf is also the primary driver of spontaneous activity and premotor-like bursting during sleep in HVC. Like HVC and RA, two nuclei critical for song learning and production, NIf exhibits behavioral-state dependent auditory responses and strong motor bursts that precede song output. NIf also exhibits extended periods of fast gamma oscillations following vocal production. Based on the converging evidence from studies of physiology and functional connectivity it would be reasonable to expect NIf to play an important role in the learning, maintenance, and production of song. Surprisingly, however, lesions of NIf in adult zebra finches have no effect on song production or maintenance. Only the plastic song produced by juvenile zebra finches during the sensorimotor phase of song learning is affected by NIf lesions. In this review, we carefully examine what is known about NIf at the anatomical, physiological, and behavioral levels. We reexamine conclusions drawn from previous studies in the light of our current understanding of the song system, and establish what can be said with certainty about NIf's involvement in song learning, maintenance, and production. Finally, we review recent theories of song learning integrating possible roles for NIf within these frameworks and suggest possible parallels between NIf and sensorimotor areas that form part of the neural circuitry for speech processing in humans. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier

  8. Across frequency processes involved in auditory detection of coloration

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Buchholz, Jörg; Kerketsos, P

    2008-01-01

    filterbank was designed to approximate auditory filter-shapes measured by Oxenham and Shera [JARO, 2003, 541-554], derived from forward masking data. The results of the present study demonstrate that a “purely” spectrum-based model approach can successfully describe auditory coloration detection even at high......When an early wall reflection is added to a direct sound, a spectral modulation is introduced to the signal's power spectrum. This spectral modulation typically produces an auditory sensation of coloration or pitch. Throughout this study, auditory spectral-integration effects involved in coloration...... detection are investigated. Coloration detection thresholds were therefore measured as a function of reflection delay and stimulus bandwidth. In order to investigate the involved auditory mechanisms, an auditory model was employed that was conceptually similar to the peripheral weighting model [Yost, JASA...

  9. Temporal summation of heat pain in humans: Evidence supporting thalamocortical modulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, Tuan D; Wang, Heng; Tandon, Animesh; Hernandez-Garcia, Luis; Casey, Kenneth L

    2010-07-01

    Noxious cutaneous contact heat stimuli (48 degrees C) are perceived as increasingly painful when the stimulus duration is extended from 5 to 10s, reflecting the temporal summation of central neuronal activity mediating heat pain. However, the sensation of increasing heat pain disappears, reaching a plateau as stimulus duration increases from 10 to 20s. We used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in 10 healthy subjects to determine if active central mechanisms could contribute to this psychophysical plateau. During heat pain durations ranging from 5 to 20s, activation intensities in the bilateral orbitofrontal cortices and the activation volume in the left primary (S1) somatosensory cortex correlated only with perceived stimulus intensity and not with stimulus duration. Activation volumes increased with both stimulus duration and perceived intensity in the left lateral thalamus, posterior insula, inferior parietal cortex, and hippocampus. In contrast, during the psychophysical plateau, both the intensity and volume of thalamic and cortical activations in the right medial thalamus, right posterior insula, and left secondary (S2) somatosensory cortex continued to increase with stimulus duration but not with perceived stimulus intensity. Activation volumes in the left medial and right lateral thalamus, and the bilateral mid-anterior cingulate, left orbitofrontal, and right S2 cortices also increased only with stimulus duration. The increased activity of specific thalamic and cortical structures as stimulus duration, but not perceived intensity, increases is consistent with the recruitment of a thalamocortical mechanism that participates in the modulation of pain-related cortical responses and the temporal summation of heat pain. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  10. A Rationale for Music Training to Enhance Executive Functions in Parkinson’s Disease: An Overview of the Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Teresa Lesiuk

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Music listening interventions such as Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation can improve mobility, balance, and gait in Parkinson’s Disease (PD. Yet, the impact of music training on executive functions is not yet known. Deficits in executive functions (e.g., attention, processing speed in patients with PD result in gait interference, deficits in emotional processing, loss of functional capacity (e.g., intellectual activity, social participation, and reduced quality of life. The model of temporal prediction and timing suggests two networks collectively contribute to movement generation and execution: the basal ganglia-thalamocortical network (BGTC and the cerebellar-thalamocortical network (CTC. Due to decreases in dopamine responsible for the disruption of the BGTC network in adults with PD, it is hypothesized that rhythmic auditory cues assist patients through recruiting an alternate network, the CTC, which extends to the supplementary motor areas (SMA and the frontal cortices. In piano training, fine motor finger movements activate the cerebellum and SMA, thereby exercising the CTC network. We hypothesize that exercising the CTC network through music training will contribute to enhanced executive functions. Previous research suggested that music training enhances cognitive performance (i.e., working memory and processing speed in healthy adults and adults with cognitive impairments. This review and rationale provides support for the use of music training to enhance cognitive outcomes in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD.

  11. A Rationale for Music Training to Enhance Executive Functions in Parkinson's Disease: An Overview of the Problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lesiuk, Teresa; Bugos, Jennifer A; Murakami, Brea

    2018-04-22

    Music listening interventions such as Rhythmic Auditory Stimulation can improve mobility, balance, and gait in Parkinson’s Disease (PD). Yet, the impact of music training on executive functions is not yet known. Deficits in executive functions (e.g., attention, processing speed) in patients with PD result in gait interference, deficits in emotional processing, loss of functional capacity (e.g., intellectual activity, social participation), and reduced quality of life. The model of temporal prediction and timing suggests two networks collectively contribute to movement generation and execution: the basal ganglia-thalamocortical network (BGTC) and the cerebellar-thalamocortical network (CTC). Due to decreases in dopamine responsible for the disruption of the BGTC network in adults with PD, it is hypothesized that rhythmic auditory cues assist patients through recruiting an alternate network, the CTC, which extends to the supplementary motor areas (SMA) and the frontal cortices. In piano training, fine motor finger movements activate the cerebellum and SMA, thereby exercising the CTC network. We hypothesize that exercising the CTC network through music training will contribute to enhanced executive functions. Previous research suggested that music training enhances cognitive performance (i.e., working memory and processing speed) in healthy adults and adults with cognitive impairments. This review and rationale provides support for the use of music training to enhance cognitive outcomes in patients with Parkinson’s Disease (PD).

  12. Source-Space Cross-Frequency Amplitude-Amplitude Coupling in Tinnitus

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    Oliver Zobay

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The thalamocortical dysrhythmia (TCD model has been influential in the development of theoretical explanations for the neurological mechanisms of tinnitus. It asserts that thalamocortical oscillations lock a region in the auditory cortex into an ectopic slow-wave theta rhythm (4–8 Hz. The cortical area surrounding this region is hypothesized to generate abnormal gamma (>30 Hz oscillations (“edge effect” giving rise to the tinnitus percept. Consequently, the model predicts enhanced cross-frequency coherence in a broad range between theta and gamma. In this magnetoencephalography study involving tinnitus and control cohorts, we investigated this prediction. Using beamforming, cross-frequency amplitude-amplitude coupling (AAC was computed within the auditory cortices for frequencies (f1,f2 between 2 and 80 Hz. We find the AAC signal to decompose into two distinct components at low (f1,f230 Hz frequencies, respectively. Studying the correlation of AAC with several key covariates (age, hearing level (HL, tinnitus handicap and duration, and HL at tinnitus frequency, we observe a statistically significant association between age and low-frequency AAC. Contrary to the TCD predictions, however, we do not find any indication of statistical differences in AAC between tinnitus and controls and thus no evidence for the predicted enhancement of cross-frequency coupling in tinnitus.

  13. Auditory temporal processing skills in musicians with dyslexia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop-Liebler, Paula; Welch, Graham; Huss, Martina; Thomson, Jennifer M; Goswami, Usha

    2014-08-01

    The core cognitive difficulty in developmental dyslexia involves phonological processing, but adults and children with dyslexia also have sensory impairments. Impairments in basic auditory processing show particular links with phonological impairments, and recent studies with dyslexic children across languages reveal a relationship between auditory temporal processing and sensitivity to rhythmic timing and speech rhythm. As rhythm is explicit in music, musical training might have a beneficial effect on the auditory perception of acoustic cues to rhythm in dyslexia. Here we took advantage of the presence of musicians with and without dyslexia in musical conservatoires, comparing their auditory temporal processing abilities with those of dyslexic non-musicians matched for cognitive ability. Musicians with dyslexia showed equivalent auditory sensitivity to musicians without dyslexia and also showed equivalent rhythm perception. The data support the view that extensive rhythmic experience initiated during childhood (here in the form of music training) can affect basic auditory processing skills which are found to be deficient in individuals with dyslexia. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  14. Auditory memory can be object based.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dyson, Benjamin J; Ishfaq, Feraz

    2008-04-01

    Identifying how memories are organized remains a fundamental issue in psychology. Previous work has shown that visual short-term memory is organized according to the object of origin, with participants being better at retrieving multiple pieces of information from the same object than from different objects. However, it is not yet clear whether similar memory structures are employed for other modalities, such as audition. Under analogous conditions in the auditory domain, we found that short-term memories for sound can also be organized according to object, with a same-object advantage being demonstrated for the retrieval of information in an auditory scene defined by two complex sounds overlapping in both space and time. Our results provide support for the notion of an auditory object, in addition to the continued identification of similar processing constraints across visual and auditory domains. The identification of modality-independent organizational principles of memory, such as object-based coding, suggests possible mechanisms by which the human processing system remembers multimodal experiences.

  15. Spike and burst coding in thalamocortical relay cells.

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    Fleur Zeldenrust

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Mammalian thalamocortical relay (TCR neurons switch their firing activity between a tonic spiking and a bursting regime. In a combined experimental and computational study, we investigated the features in the input signal that single spikes and bursts in the output spike train represent and how this code is influenced by the membrane voltage state of the neuron. Identical frozen Gaussian noise current traces were injected into TCR neurons in rat brain slices as well as in a validated three-compartment TCR model cell. The resulting membrane voltage traces and spike trains were analyzed by calculating the coherence and impedance. Reverse correlation techniques gave the Event-Triggered Average (ETA and the Event-Triggered Covariance (ETC. This demonstrated that the feature selectivity started relatively long before the events (up to 300 ms and showed a clear distinction between spikes (selective for fluctuations and bursts (selective for integration. The model cell was fine-tuned to mimic the frozen noise initiated spike and burst responses to within experimental accuracy, especially for the mixed mode regimes. The information content carried by the various types of events in the signal as well as by the whole signal was calculated. Bursts phase-lock to and transfer information at lower frequencies than single spikes. On depolarization the neuron transits smoothly from the predominantly bursting regime to a spiking regime, in which it is more sensitive to high-frequency fluctuations. The model was then used to elucidate properties that could not be assessed experimentally, in particular the role of two important subthreshold voltage-dependent currents: the low threshold activated calcium current (IT and the cyclic nucleotide modulated h current (Ih. The ETAs of those currents and their underlying activation/inactivation states not only explained the state dependence of the firing regime but also the long-lasting concerted dynamic action of the two

  16. Effect of neonatal asphyxia on the impairment of the auditory pathway by recording auditory brainstem responses in newborn piglets: a new experimentation model to study the perinatal hypoxic-ischemic damage on the auditory system.

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    Francisco Jose Alvarez

    Full Text Available Hypoxia-ischemia (HI is a major perinatal problem that results in severe damage to the brain impairing the normal development of the auditory system. The purpose of the present study is to study the effect of perinatal asphyxia on the auditory pathway by recording auditory brain responses in a novel animal experimentation model in newborn piglets.Hypoxia-ischemia was induced to 1.3 day-old piglets by clamping 30 minutes both carotid arteries by vascular occluders and lowering the fraction of inspired oxygen. We compared the Auditory Brain Responses (ABRs of newborn piglets exposed to acute hypoxia/ischemia (n = 6 and a control group with no such exposure (n = 10. ABRs were recorded for both ears before the start of the experiment (baseline, after 30 minutes of HI injury, and every 30 minutes during 6 h after the HI injury.Auditory brain responses were altered during the hypoxic-ischemic insult but recovered 30-60 minutes later. Hypoxia/ischemia seemed to induce auditory functional damage by increasing I-V latencies and decreasing wave I, III and V amplitudes, although differences were not significant.The described experimental model of hypoxia-ischemia in newborn piglets may be useful for studying the effect of perinatal asphyxia on the impairment of the auditory pathway.

  17. Directed Motor-Auditory EEG Connectivity Is Modulated by Music Tempo.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolaou, Nicoletta; Malik, Asad; Daly, Ian; Weaver, James; Hwang, Faustina; Kirke, Alexis; Roesch, Etienne B; Williams, Duncan; Miranda, Eduardo R; Nasuto, Slawomir J

    2017-01-01

    Beat perception is fundamental to how we experience music, and yet the mechanism behind this spontaneous building of the internal beat representation is largely unknown. Existing findings support links between the tempo (speed) of the beat and enhancement of electroencephalogram (EEG) activity at tempo-related frequencies, but there are no studies looking at how tempo may affect the underlying long-range interactions between EEG activity at different electrodes. The present study investigates these long-range interactions using EEG activity recorded from 21 volunteers listening to music stimuli played at 4 different tempi (50, 100, 150 and 200 beats per minute). The music stimuli consisted of piano excerpts designed to convey the emotion of "peacefulness". Noise stimuli with an identical acoustic content to the music excerpts were also presented for comparison purposes. The brain activity interactions were characterized with the imaginary part of coherence (iCOH) in the frequency range 1.5-18 Hz (δ, θ, α and lower β) between all pairs of EEG electrodes for the four tempi and the music/noise conditions, as well as a baseline resting state (RS) condition obtained at the start of the experimental task. Our findings can be summarized as follows: (a) there was an ongoing long-range interaction in the RS engaging fronto-posterior areas; (b) this interaction was maintained in both music and noise, but its strength and directionality were modulated as a result of acoustic stimulation; (c) the topological patterns of iCOH were similar for music, noise and RS, however statistically significant differences in strength and direction of iCOH were identified; and (d) tempo had an effect on the direction and strength of motor-auditory interactions. Our findings are in line with existing literature and illustrate a part of the mechanism by which musical stimuli with different tempi can entrain changes in cortical activity.

  18. Directed Motor-Auditory EEG Connectivity Is Modulated by Music Tempo

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    Nicoletta Nicolaou

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Beat perception is fundamental to how we experience music, and yet the mechanism behind this spontaneous building of the internal beat representation is largely unknown. Existing findings support links between the tempo (speed of the beat and enhancement of electroencephalogram (EEG activity at tempo-related frequencies, but there are no studies looking at how tempo may affect the underlying long-range interactions between EEG activity at different electrodes. The present study investigates these long-range interactions using EEG activity recorded from 21 volunteers listening to music stimuli played at 4 different tempi (50, 100, 150 and 200 beats per minute. The music stimuli consisted of piano excerpts designed to convey the emotion of “peacefulness”. Noise stimuli with an identical acoustic content to the music excerpts were also presented for comparison purposes. The brain activity interactions were characterized with the imaginary part of coherence (iCOH in the frequency range 1.5–18 Hz (δ, θ, α and lower β between all pairs of EEG electrodes for the four tempi and the music/noise conditions, as well as a baseline resting state (RS condition obtained at the start of the experimental task. Our findings can be summarized as follows: (a there was an ongoing long-range interaction in the RS engaging fronto-posterior areas; (b this interaction was maintained in both music and noise, but its strength and directionality were modulated as a result of acoustic stimulation; (c the topological patterns of iCOH were similar for music, noise and RS, however statistically significant differences in strength and direction of iCOH were identified; and (d tempo had an effect on the direction and strength of motor-auditory interactions. Our findings are in line with existing literature and illustrate a part of the mechanism by which musical stimuli with different tempi can entrain changes in cortical activity.

  19. Directed Motor-Auditory EEG Connectivity Is Modulated by Music Tempo

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nicolaou, Nicoletta; Malik, Asad; Daly, Ian; Weaver, James; Hwang, Faustina; Kirke, Alexis; Roesch, Etienne B.; Williams, Duncan; Miranda, Eduardo R.; Nasuto, Slawomir J.

    2017-01-01

    Beat perception is fundamental to how we experience music, and yet the mechanism behind this spontaneous building of the internal beat representation is largely unknown. Existing findings support links between the tempo (speed) of the beat and enhancement of electroencephalogram (EEG) activity at tempo-related frequencies, but there are no studies looking at how tempo may affect the underlying long-range interactions between EEG activity at different electrodes. The present study investigates these long-range interactions using EEG activity recorded from 21 volunteers listening to music stimuli played at 4 different tempi (50, 100, 150 and 200 beats per minute). The music stimuli consisted of piano excerpts designed to convey the emotion of “peacefulness”. Noise stimuli with an identical acoustic content to the music excerpts were also presented for comparison purposes. The brain activity interactions were characterized with the imaginary part of coherence (iCOH) in the frequency range 1.5–18 Hz (δ, θ, α and lower β) between all pairs of EEG electrodes for the four tempi and the music/noise conditions, as well as a baseline resting state (RS) condition obtained at the start of the experimental task. Our findings can be summarized as follows: (a) there was an ongoing long-range interaction in the RS engaging fronto-posterior areas; (b) this interaction was maintained in both music and noise, but its strength and directionality were modulated as a result of acoustic stimulation; (c) the topological patterns of iCOH were similar for music, noise and RS, however statistically significant differences in strength and direction of iCOH were identified; and (d) tempo had an effect on the direction and strength of motor-auditory interactions. Our findings are in line with existing literature and illustrate a part of the mechanism by which musical stimuli with different tempi can entrain changes in cortical activity. PMID:29093672

  20. Auditory short-term memory activation during score reading.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simoens, Veerle L; Tervaniemi, Mari

    2013-01-01

    Performing music on the basis of reading a score requires reading ahead of what is being played in order to anticipate the necessary actions to produce the notes. Score reading thus not only involves the decoding of a visual score and the comparison to the auditory feedback, but also short-term storage of the musical information due to the delay of the auditory feedback during reading ahead. This study investigates the mechanisms of encoding of musical information in short-term memory during such a complicated procedure. There were three parts in this study. First, professional musicians participated in an electroencephalographic (EEG) experiment to study the slow wave potentials during a time interval of short-term memory storage in a situation that requires cross-modal translation and short-term storage of visual material to be compared with delayed auditory material, as it is the case in music score reading. This delayed visual-to-auditory matching task was compared with delayed visual-visual and auditory-auditory matching tasks in terms of EEG topography and voltage amplitudes. Second, an additional behavioural experiment was performed to determine which type of distractor would be the most interfering with the score reading-like task. Third, the self-reported strategies of the participants were also analyzed. All three parts of this study point towards the same conclusion according to which during music score reading, the musician most likely first translates the visual score into an auditory cue, probably starting around 700 or 1300 ms, ready for storage and delayed comparison with the auditory feedback.

  1. Is the auditory sensory memory sensitive to visual information?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Besle, Julien; Fort, Alexandra; Giard, Marie-Hélène

    2005-10-01

    The mismatch negativity (MMN) component of auditory event-related brain potentials can be used as a probe to study the representation of sounds in auditory sensory memory (ASM). Yet it has been shown that an auditory MMN can also be elicited by an illusory auditory deviance induced by visual changes. This suggests that some visual information may be encoded in ASM and is accessible to the auditory MMN process. It is not known, however, whether visual information affects ASM representation for any audiovisual event or whether this phenomenon is limited to specific domains in which strong audiovisual illusions occur. To highlight this issue, we have compared the topographies of MMNs elicited by non-speech audiovisual stimuli deviating from audiovisual standards on the visual, the auditory, or both dimensions. Contrary to what occurs with audiovisual illusions, each unimodal deviant elicited sensory-specific MMNs, and the MMN to audiovisual deviants included both sensory components. The visual MMN was, however, different from a genuine visual MMN obtained in a visual-only control oddball paradigm, suggesting that auditory and visual information interacts before the MMN process occurs. Furthermore, the MMN to audiovisual deviants was significantly different from the sum of the two sensory-specific MMNs, showing that the processes of visual and auditory change detection are not completely independent.

  2. Biological impact of music and software-based auditory training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraus, Nina

    2012-01-01

    Auditory-based communication skills are developed at a young age and are maintained throughout our lives. However, some individuals – both young and old – encounter difficulties in achieving or maintaining communication proficiency. Biological signals arising from hearing sounds relate to real-life communication skills such as listening to speech in noisy environments and reading, pointing to an intersection between hearing and cognition. Musical experience, amplification, and software-based training can improve these biological signals. These findings of biological plasticity, in a variety of subject populations, relate to attention and auditory memory, and represent an integrated auditory system influenced by both sensation and cognition. Learning outcomes The reader will (1) understand that the auditory system is malleable to experience and training, (2) learn the ingredients necessary for auditory learning to successfully be applied to communication, (3) learn that the auditory brainstem response to complex sounds (cABR) is a window into the integrated auditory system, and (4) see examples of how cABR can be used to track the outcome of experience and training. PMID:22789822

  3. Visual form predictions facilitate auditory processing at the N1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paris, Tim; Kim, Jeesun; Davis, Chris

    2017-02-20

    Auditory-visual (AV) events often involve a leading visual cue (e.g. auditory-visual speech) that allows the perceiver to generate predictions about the upcoming auditory event. Electrophysiological evidence suggests that when an auditory event is predicted, processing is sped up, i.e., the N1 component of the ERP occurs earlier (N1 facilitation). However, it is not clear (1) whether N1 facilitation is based specifically on predictive rather than multisensory integration and (2) which particular properties of the visual cue it is based on. The current experiment used artificial AV stimuli in which visual cues predicted but did not co-occur with auditory cues. Visual form cues (high and low salience) and the auditory-visual pairing were manipulated so that auditory predictions could be based on form and timing or on timing only. The results showed that N1 facilitation occurred only for combined form and temporal predictions. These results suggest that faster auditory processing (as indicated by N1 facilitation) is based on predictive processing generated by a visual cue that clearly predicts both what and when the auditory stimulus will occur. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  4. Temporal expectation weights visual signals over auditory signals.

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    Menceloglu, Melisa; Grabowecky, Marcia; Suzuki, Satoru

    2017-04-01

    Temporal expectation is a process by which people use temporally structured sensory information to explicitly or implicitly predict the onset and/or the duration of future events. Because timing plays a critical role in crossmodal interactions, we investigated how temporal expectation influenced auditory-visual interaction, using an auditory-visual crossmodal congruity effect as a measure of crossmodal interaction. For auditory identification, an incongruent visual stimulus produced stronger interference when the crossmodal stimulus was presented with an expected rather than an unexpected timing. In contrast, for visual identification, an incongruent auditory stimulus produced weaker interference when the crossmodal stimulus was presented with an expected rather than an unexpected timing. The fact that temporal expectation made visual distractors more potent and visual targets less susceptible to auditory interference suggests that temporal expectation increases the perceptual weight of visual signals.

  5. Brainstem Auditory Evoked Potential in HIV-Positive Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matas, Carla Gentile; Samelli, Alessandra Giannella; Angrisani, Rosanna Giaffredo; Magliaro, Fernanda Cristina Leite; Segurado, Aluísio C

    2015-10-20

    To characterize the findings of brainstem auditory evoked potential in HIV-positive individuals exposed and not exposed to antiretroviral treatment. This research was a cross-sectional, observational, and descriptive study. Forty-five HIV-positive individuals (18 not exposed and 27 exposed to the antiretroviral treatment - research groups I and II, respectively - and 30 control group individuals) were assessed through brainstem auditory evoked potential. There were no significant between-group differences regarding wave latencies. A higher percentage of altered brainstem auditory evoked potential was observed in the HIV-positive groups when compared to the control group. The most common alteration was in the low brainstem. HIV-positive individuals have a higher percentage of altered brainstem auditory evoked potential that suggests central auditory pathway impairment when compared to HIV-negative individuals. There was no significant difference between individuals exposed and not exposed to antiretroviral treatment.

  6. The Auditory System of the Dipteran Parasitoid Emblemasoma auditrix (Sarcophagidae).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tron, Nanina; Stölting, Heiko; Kampschulte, Marian; Martels, Gunhild; Stumpner, Andreas; Lakes-Harlan, Reinhard

    2016-01-01

    Several taxa of insects evolved a tympanate ear at different body positions, whereby the ear is composed of common parts: a scolopidial sense organ, a tracheal air space, and a tympanal membrane. Here, we analyzed the anatomy and physiology of the ear at the ventral prothorax of the sarcophagid fly, Emblemasoma auditrix (Soper). We used micro-computed tomography to analyze the ear and its tracheal air space in relation to the body morphology. Both tympana are separated by a small cuticular bridge, face in the same frontal direction, and are backed by a single tracheal enlargement. This enlargement is connected to the anterior spiracles at the dorsofrontal thorax and is continuous with the tracheal network in the thorax and in the abdomen. Analyses of responses of auditory afferents and interneurons show that the ear is broadly tuned, with a sensitivity peak at 5 kHz. Single-cell recordings of auditory interneurons indicate a frequency- and intensity-dependent tuning, whereby some neurons react best to 9 kHz, the peak frequency of the host's calling song. The results are compared to the convergently evolved ear in Tachinidae (Diptera). © The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Entomological Society of America.

  7. Effects of sequential streaming on auditory masking using psychoacoustics and auditory evoked potentials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Verhey, Jesko L; Ernst, Stephan M A; Yasin, Ifat

    2012-03-01

    The present study was aimed at investigating the relationship between the mismatch negativity (MMN) and psychoacoustical effects of sequential streaming on comodulation masking release (CMR). The influence of sequential streaming on CMR was investigated using a psychoacoustical alternative forced-choice procedure and electroencephalography (EEG) for the same group of subjects. The psychoacoustical data showed, that adding precursors comprising of only off-signal-frequency maskers abolished the CMR. Complementary EEG data showed an MMN irrespective of the masker envelope correlation across frequency when only the off-signal-frequency masker components were present. The addition of such precursors promotes a separation of the on- and off-frequency masker components into distinct auditory objects preventing the auditory system from using comodulation as an additional cue. A frequency-specific adaptation changing the representation of the flanking bands in the streaming conditions may also contribute to the reduction of CMR in the stream conditions, however, it is unlikely that adaptation is the primary reason for the streaming effect. A neurophysiological correlate of sequential streaming was found in EEG data using MMN, but the magnitude of the MMN was not correlated with the audibility of the signal in CMR experiments. Dipole source analysis indicated different cortical regions involved in processing auditory streaming and modulation detection. In particular, neural sources for processing auditory streaming include cortical regions involved in decision-making. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Thalamocortical integration of instrumental learning and performance and their disintegration in addiction.

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    Balleine, Bernard W; Morris, Richard W; Leung, Beatrice K

    2015-12-02

    A recent focus of addiction research has been on the effect of drug exposure on the neural processes that mediate the acquisition and performance of goal-directed instrumental actions. Deficits in goal-directed control and a consequent dysregulation of habit learning processes have been described as resulting in compulsive drug seeking. Similarly, considerable research has focussed on the motivational and emotional changes that drugs produce and that result in changes in the incentive processes that modulate goal-directed performance. Although these areas have developed independently, we argue that the effects they described are likely not independent. Here we hypothesize that these changes result from a core deficit in the way the learning and performance factors that support goal-directed action are integrated at a neural level to maintain behavioural control. A dorsal basal ganglia stream mediating goal-directed learning and a ventral stream mediating various performance factors find several points of integration in the cortical basal ganglia system, most notably in the thalamocortical network linking basal ganglia output to a variety of cortical control centres. Recent research in humans and other animals is reviewed suggesting that learning and performance factors are integrated in a network centred on the mediodorsal thalamus and that disintegration in this network may provide the basis for a 'switch' from recreational to dysregulated drug seeking resulting in the well documented changes associated with addiction. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. Effect of omega-3 on auditory system

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    Vida Rahimi

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Omega-3 fatty acid have structural and biological roles in the body 's various systems . Numerous studies have tried to research about it. Auditory system is affected a s well. The aim of this article was to review the researches about the effect of omega-3 on auditory system.Methods: We searched Medline , Google Scholar, PubMed, Cochrane Library and SID search engines with the "auditory" and "omega-3" keywords and read textbooks about this subject between 19 70 and 20 13.Conclusion: Both excess and deficient amounts of dietary omega-3 fatty acid can cause harmful effects on fetal and infant growth and development of brain and central nervous system esspesially auditory system. It is important to determine the adequate dosage of omega-3.

  10. Shaping the aging brain: Role of auditory input patterns in the emergence of auditory cortical impairments

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    Brishna Soraya Kamal

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Age-related impairments in the primary auditory cortex (A1 include poor tuning selectivity, neural desynchronization and degraded responses to low-probability sounds. These changes have been largely attributed to reduced inhibition in the aged brain, and are thought to contribute to substantial hearing impairment in both humans and animals. Since many of these changes can be partially reversed with auditory training, it has been speculated that they might not be purely degenerative, but might rather represent negative plastic adjustments to noisy or distorted auditory signals reaching the brain. To test this hypothesis, we examined the impact of exposing young adult rats to 8 weeks of low-grade broadband noise on several aspects of A1 function and structure. We then characterized the same A1 elements in aging rats for comparison. We found that the impact of noise exposure on A1 tuning selectivity, temporal processing of auditory signal and responses to oddball tones was almost indistinguishable from the effect of natural aging. Moreover, noise exposure resulted in a reduction in the population of parvalbumin inhibitory interneurons and cortical myelin as previously documented in the aged group. Most of these changes reversed after returning the rats to a quiet environment. These results support the hypothesis that age-related changes in A1 have a strong activity-dependent component and indicate that the presence or absence of clear auditory input patterns might be a key factor in sustaining adult A1 function.

  11. Facilitated auditory detection for speech sounds

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    Carine eSignoret

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available If it is well known that knowledge facilitates higher cognitive functions, such as visual and auditory word recognition, little is known about the influence of knowledge on detection, particularly in the auditory modality. Our study tested the influence of phonological and lexical knowledge on auditory detection. Words, pseudo words and complex non phonological sounds, energetically matched as closely as possible, were presented at a range of presentation levels from sub threshold to clearly audible. The participants performed a detection task (Experiments 1 and 2 that was followed by a two alternative forced choice recognition task in Experiment 2. The results of this second task in Experiment 2 suggest a correct recognition of words in the absence of detection with a subjective threshold approach. In the detection task of both experiments, phonological stimuli (words and pseudo words were better detected than non phonological stimuli (complex sounds, presented close to the auditory threshold. This finding suggests an advantage of speech for signal detection. An additional advantage of words over pseudo words was observed in Experiment 2, suggesting that lexical knowledge could also improve auditory detection when listeners had to recognize the stimulus in a subsequent task. Two simulations of detection performance performed on the sound signals confirmed that the advantage of speech over non speech processing could not be attributed to energetic differences in the stimuli.

  12. Musical experience, auditory perception and reading-related skills in children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Banai, Karen; Ahissar, Merav

    2013-01-01

    The relationships between auditory processing and reading-related skills remain poorly understood despite intensive research. Here we focus on the potential role of musical experience as a confounding factor. Specifically we ask whether the pattern of correlations between auditory and reading related skills differ between children with different amounts of musical experience. Third grade children with various degrees of musical experience were tested on a battery of auditory processing and reading related tasks. Very poor auditory thresholds and poor memory skills were abundant only among children with no musical education. In this population, indices of auditory processing (frequency and interval discrimination thresholds) were significantly correlated with and accounted for up to 13% of the variance in reading related skills. Among children with more than one year of musical training, auditory processing indices were better, yet reading related skills were not correlated with them. A potential interpretation for the reduction in the correlations might be that auditory and reading-related skills improve at different rates as a function of musical training. Participants' previous musical training, which is typically ignored in studies assessing the relations between auditory and reading related skills, should be considered. Very poor auditory and memory skills are rare among children with even a short period of musical training, suggesting musical training could have an impact on both. The lack of correlation in the musically trained population suggests that a short period of musical training does not enhance reading related skills of individuals with within-normal auditory processing skills. Further studies are required to determine whether the associations between musical training, auditory processing and memory are indeed causal or whether children with poor auditory and memory skills are less likely to study music and if so, why this is the case.

  13. Musical experience, auditory perception and reading-related skills in children.

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    Karen Banai

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The relationships between auditory processing and reading-related skills remain poorly understood despite intensive research. Here we focus on the potential role of musical experience as a confounding factor. Specifically we ask whether the pattern of correlations between auditory and reading related skills differ between children with different amounts of musical experience. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Third grade children with various degrees of musical experience were tested on a battery of auditory processing and reading related tasks. Very poor auditory thresholds and poor memory skills were abundant only among children with no musical education. In this population, indices of auditory processing (frequency and interval discrimination thresholds were significantly correlated with and accounted for up to 13% of the variance in reading related skills. Among children with more than one year of musical training, auditory processing indices were better, yet reading related skills were not correlated with them. A potential interpretation for the reduction in the correlations might be that auditory and reading-related skills improve at different rates as a function of musical training. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Participants' previous musical training, which is typically ignored in studies assessing the relations between auditory and reading related skills, should be considered. Very poor auditory and memory skills are rare among children with even a short period of musical training, suggesting musical training could have an impact on both. The lack of correlation in the musically trained population suggests that a short period of musical training does not enhance reading related skills of individuals with within-normal auditory processing skills. Further studies are required to determine whether the associations between musical training, auditory processing and memory are indeed causal or whether children with poor auditory and

  14. Tinnitus intensity dependent gamma oscillations of the contralateral auditory cortex.

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    Elsa van der Loo

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Non-pulsatile tinnitus is considered a subjective auditory phantom phenomenon present in 10 to 15% of the population. Tinnitus as a phantom phenomenon is related to hyperactivity and reorganization of the auditory cortex. Magnetoencephalography studies demonstrate a correlation between gamma band activity in the contralateral auditory cortex and the presence of tinnitus. The present study aims to investigate the relation between objective gamma-band activity in the contralateral auditory cortex and subjective tinnitus loudness scores. METHODS AND FINDINGS: In unilateral tinnitus patients (N = 15; 10 right, 5 left source analysis of resting state electroencephalographic gamma band oscillations shows a strong positive correlation with Visual Analogue Scale loudness scores in the contralateral auditory cortex (max r = 0.73, p<0.05. CONCLUSION: Auditory phantom percepts thus show similar sound level dependent activation of the contralateral auditory cortex as observed in normal audition. In view of recent consciousness models and tinnitus network models these results suggest tinnitus loudness is coded by gamma band activity in the contralateral auditory cortex but might not, by itself, be responsible for tinnitus perception.

  15. Altered cortico-striatal-thalamic connectivity in relation to spatial working memory capacity in children with ADHD

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    Kathryn L. Mills

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD captures a heterogeneous group of children, who are characterized by a range of cognitive and behavioral symptoms. Previous resting state functional connectivity (rs-fcMRI studies have sought to understand the neural correlates of ADHD by comparing connectivity measurements between those with and without the disorder, focusing primarily on cortical-striatal circuits mediated by the thalamus. To integrate the multiple phenotypic features associated with ADHD and help resolve its heterogeneity, it is helpful to determine how specific circuits relate to unique cognitive domains of the ADHD syndrome. Spatial working memory has been proposed as a key mechanism in the pathophysiology of ADHD.Methods: We correlated the rs-fcMRI of five thalamic regions of interest with spatial span working memory scores in a sample of 67 children aged 7-11 years (ADHD and typically developing children; TDC. In an independent dataset, we then examined group differences in thalamo-striatal functional connectivity between 70 ADHD and 89 TDC (7-11 years from the ADHD-200 dataset. Thalamic regions of interest were created based on previous methods that utilize known thalamo-cortical loops and rs-fcMRI to identify functional boundaries in the thalamus.Results/Conclusions: Using these thalamic regions, we found atypical rs-fcMRI between specific thalamic groupings with the basal ganglia. To identify the thalamic connections that relate to spatial working memory in ADHD, only connections identified in both the correlational and comparative analyses were considered. Multiple connections between the thalamus and basal ganglia, particularly between medial and anterior dorsal thalamus and the putamen, were related to spatial working memory and also altered in ADHD. These thalamo-striatal disruptions may be one of multiple atypical neural and cognitive mechanisms that relate to the ADHD clinical phenotype.

  16. Music lessons improve auditory perceptual and cognitive performance in deaf children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rochette, Françoise; Moussard, Aline; Bigand, Emmanuel

    2014-01-01

    Despite advanced technologies in auditory rehabilitation of profound deafness, deaf children often exhibit delayed cognitive and linguistic development and auditory training remains a crucial element of their education. In the present cross-sectional study, we assess whether music would be a relevant tool for deaf children rehabilitation. In normal-hearing children, music lessons have been shown to improve cognitive and linguistic-related abilities, such as phonetic discrimination and reading. We compared auditory perception, auditory cognition, and phonetic discrimination between 14 profoundly deaf children who completed weekly music lessons for a period of 1.5-4 years and 14 deaf children who did not receive musical instruction. Children were assessed on perceptual and cognitive auditory tasks using environmental sounds: discrimination, identification, auditory scene analysis, auditory working memory. Transfer to the linguistic domain was tested with a phonetic discrimination task. Musically trained children showed better performance in auditory scene analysis, auditory working memory and phonetic discrimination tasks, and multiple regressions showed that success on these tasks was at least partly driven by music lessons. We propose that musical education contributes to development of general processes such as auditory attention and perception, which, in turn, facilitate auditory-related cognitive and linguistic processes.

  17. Music lessons improve auditory perceptual and cognitive performance in deaf children

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    Françoise eROCHETTE

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available Despite advanced technologies in auditory rehabilitation of profound deafness, deaf children often exhibit delayed cognitive and linguistic development and auditory training remains a crucial element of their education. In the present cross-sectional study, we assess whether music would be a relevant tool for deaf children rehabilitation. In normal-hearing children, music lessons have been shown to improve cognitive and linguistic-related abilities, such as phonetic discrimination and reading. We compared auditory perception, auditory cognition, and phonetic discrimination between 14 profoundly deaf children who completed weekly music lessons for a period of 1.5 to 4 years and 14 deaf children who did not receive musical instruction. Children were assessed on perceptual and cognitive auditory tasks using environmental sounds: discrimination, identification, auditory scene analysis, auditory working memory. Transfer to the linguistic domain was tested with a phonetic discrimination task. Musically-trained children showed better performance in auditory scene analysis, auditory working memory and phonetic discrimination tasks, and multiple regressions showed that success on these tasks was at least partly driven by music lessons. We propose that musical education contributes to development of general processes such as auditory attention and perception, which, in turn, facilitate auditory-related cognitive and linguistic processes.

  18. Auditory Hallucinations in Acute Stroke

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    Yair Lampl

    2005-01-01

    Full Text Available Auditory hallucinations are uncommon phenomena which can be directly caused by acute stroke, mostly described after lesions of the brain stem, very rarely reported after cortical strokes. The purpose of this study is to determine the frequency of this phenomenon. In a cross sectional study, 641 stroke patients were followed in the period between 1996–2000. Each patient underwent comprehensive investigation and follow-up. Four patients were found to have post cortical stroke auditory hallucinations. All of them occurred after an ischemic lesion of the right temporal lobe. After no more than four months, all patients were symptom-free and without therapy. The fact the auditory hallucinations may be of cortical origin must be taken into consideration in the treatment of stroke patients. The phenomenon may be completely reversible after a couple of months.

  19. Different forms of effective connectivity in primate frontotemporal pathways.

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    Petkov, Christopher I; Kikuchi, Yukiko; Milne, Alice E; Mishkin, Mortimer; Rauschecker, Josef P; Logothetis, Nikos K

    2015-01-23

    It is generally held that non-primary sensory regions of the brain have a strong impact on frontal cortex. However, the effective connectivity of pathways to frontal cortex is poorly understood. Here we microstimulate sites in the superior temporal and ventral frontal cortex of monkeys and use functional magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate the functional activity resulting from the stimulation of interconnected regions. Surprisingly, we find that, although certain earlier stages of auditory cortical processing can strongly activate frontal cortex, downstream auditory regions, such as voice-sensitive cortex, appear to functionally engage primarily an ipsilateral temporal lobe network. Stimulating other sites within this activated temporal lobe network shows strong activation of frontal cortex. The results indicate that the relative stage of sensory processing does not predict the level of functional access to the frontal lobes. Rather, certain brain regions engage local networks, only parts of which have a strong functional impact on frontal cortex.

  20. Attention, awareness, and the perception of auditory scenes

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    Joel S Snyder

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Auditory perception and cognition entails both low-level and high-level processes, which are likely to interact with each other to create our rich conscious experience of soundscapes. Recent research that we review has revealed numerous influences of high-level factors, such as attention, intention, and prior experience, on conscious auditory perception. And recently, studies have shown that auditory scene analysis tasks can exhibit multistability in a manner very similar to ambiguous visual stimuli, presenting a unique opportunity to study neural correlates of auditory awareness and the extent to which mechanisms of perception are shared across sensory modalities. Research has also led to a growing number of techniques through which auditory perception can be manipulated and even completely suppressed. Such findings have important consequences for our understanding of the mechanisms of perception and also should allow scientists to precisely distinguish the influences of different higher-level influences.

  1. A deafening flash! Visual interference of auditory signal detection.

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    Fassnidge, Christopher; Cecconi Marcotti, Claudia; Freeman, Elliot

    2017-03-01

    In some people, visual stimulation evokes auditory sensations. How prevalent and how perceptually real is this? 22% of our neurotypical adult participants responded 'Yes' when asked whether they heard faint sounds accompanying flash stimuli, and showed significantly better ability to discriminate visual 'Morse-code' sequences. This benefit might arise from an ability to recode visual signals as sounds, thus taking advantage of superior temporal acuity of audition. In support of this, those who showed better visual relative to auditory sequence discrimination also had poorer auditory detection in the presence of uninformative visual flashes, though this was independent of awareness of visually-evoked sounds. Thus a visually-evoked auditory representation may occur subliminally and disrupt detection of real auditory signals. The frequent natural correlation between visual and auditory stimuli might explain the surprising prevalence of this phenomenon. Overall, our results suggest that learned correspondences between strongly correlated modalities may provide a precursor for some synaesthetic abilities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. A Neural Circuit for Auditory Dominance over Visual Perception.

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    Song, You-Hyang; Kim, Jae-Hyun; Jeong, Hye-Won; Choi, Ilsong; Jeong, Daun; Kim, Kwansoo; Lee, Seung-Hee

    2017-02-22

    When conflicts occur during integration of visual and auditory information, one modality often dominates the other, but the underlying neural circuit mechanism remains unclear. Using auditory-visual discrimination tasks for head-fixed mice, we found that audition dominates vision in a process mediated by interaction between inputs from the primary visual (VC) and auditory (AC) cortices in the posterior parietal cortex (PTLp). Co-activation of the VC and AC suppresses VC-induced PTLp responses, leaving AC-induced responses. Furthermore, parvalbumin-positive (PV+) interneurons in the PTLp mainly receive AC inputs, and muscimol inactivation of the PTLp or optogenetic inhibition of its PV+ neurons abolishes auditory dominance in the resolution of cross-modal sensory conflicts without affecting either sensory perception. Conversely, optogenetic activation of PV+ neurons in the PTLp enhances the auditory dominance. Thus, our results demonstrate that AC input-specific feedforward inhibition of VC inputs in the PTLp is responsible for the auditory dominance during cross-modal integration. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Absence of auditory 'global interference' in autism.

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    Foxton, Jessica M; Stewart, Mary E; Barnard, Louise; Rodgers, Jacqui; Young, Allan H; O'Brien, Gregory; Griffiths, Timothy D

    2003-12-01

    There has been considerable recent interest in the cognitive style of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). One theory, that of weak central coherence, concerns an inability to combine stimulus details into a coherent whole. Here we test this theory in the case of sound patterns, using a new definition of the details (local structure) and the coherent whole (global structure). Thirteen individuals with a diagnosis of autism or Asperger's syndrome and 15 control participants were administered auditory tests, where they were required to match local pitch direction changes between two auditory sequences. When the other local features of the sequence pairs were altered (the actual pitches and relative time points of pitch direction change), the control participants obtained lower scores compared with when these details were left unchanged. This can be attributed to interference from the global structure, defined as the combination of the local auditory details. In contrast, the participants with ASD did not obtain lower scores in the presence of such mismatches. This was attributed to the absence of interference from an auditory coherent whole. The results are consistent with the presence of abnormal interactions between local and global auditory perception in ASD.

  4. Functional sex differences in human primary auditory cortex

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    Ruytjens, Liesbet; Georgiadis, Janniko R.; Holstege, Gert; Wit, Hero P.; Albers, Frans W.J.; Willemsen, Antoon T.M.

    2007-01-01

    We used PET to study cortical activation during auditory stimulation and found sex differences in the human primary auditory cortex (PAC). Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in 10 male and 10 female volunteers while listening to sounds (music or white noise) and during a baseline (no auditory stimulation). We found a sex difference in activation of the left and right PAC when comparing music to noise. The PAC was more activated by music than by noise in both men and women. But this difference between the two stimuli was significantly higher in men than in women. To investigate whether this difference could be attributed to either music or noise, we compared both stimuli with the baseline and revealed that noise gave a significantly higher activation in the female PAC than in the male PAC. Moreover, the male group showed a deactivation in the right prefrontal cortex when comparing noise to the baseline, which was not present in the female group. Interestingly, the auditory and prefrontal regions are anatomically and functionally linked and the prefrontal cortex is known to be engaged in auditory tasks that involve sustained or selective auditory attention. Thus we hypothesize that differences in attention result in a different deactivation of the right prefrontal cortex, which in turn modulates the activation of the PAC and thus explains the sex differences found in the activation of the PAC. Our results suggest that sex is an important factor in auditory brain studies. (orig.)

  5. Functional sex differences in human primary auditory cortex

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    Ruytjens, Liesbet [University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Groningen (Netherlands); University Medical Center Utrecht, Department Otorhinolaryngology, P.O. Box 85500, Utrecht (Netherlands); Georgiadis, Janniko R. [University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Groningen (Netherlands); Holstege, Gert [University of Groningen, University Medical Center Groningen, Center for Uroneurology, Groningen (Netherlands); Wit, Hero P. [University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Groningen (Netherlands); Albers, Frans W.J. [University Medical Center Utrecht, Department Otorhinolaryngology, P.O. Box 85500, Utrecht (Netherlands); Willemsen, Antoon T.M. [University Medical Center Groningen, Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, Groningen (Netherlands)

    2007-12-15

    We used PET to study cortical activation during auditory stimulation and found sex differences in the human primary auditory cortex (PAC). Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured in 10 male and 10 female volunteers while listening to sounds (music or white noise) and during a baseline (no auditory stimulation). We found a sex difference in activation of the left and right PAC when comparing music to noise. The PAC was more activated by music than by noise in both men and women. But this difference between the two stimuli was significantly higher in men than in women. To investigate whether this difference could be attributed to either music or noise, we compared both stimuli with the baseline and revealed that noise gave a significantly higher activation in the female PAC than in the male PAC. Moreover, the male group showed a deactivation in the right prefrontal cortex when comparing noise to the baseline, which was not present in the female group. Interestingly, the auditory and prefrontal regions are anatomically and functionally linked and the prefrontal cortex is known to be engaged in auditory tasks that involve sustained or selective auditory attention. Thus we hypothesize that differences in attention result in a different deactivation of the right prefrontal cortex, which in turn modulates the activation of the PAC and thus explains the sex differences found in the activation of the PAC. Our results suggest that sex is an important factor in auditory brain studies. (orig.)

  6. Auditory and visual spatial impression: Recent studies of three auditoria

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    Nguyen, Andy; Cabrera, Densil

    2004-10-01

    Auditory spatial impression is widely studied for its contribution to auditorium acoustical quality. By contrast, visual spatial impression in auditoria has received relatively little attention in formal studies. This paper reports results from a series of experiments investigating the auditory and visual spatial impression of concert auditoria. For auditory stimuli, a fragment of an anechoic recording of orchestral music was convolved with calibrated binaural impulse responses, which had been made with the dummy head microphone at a wide range of positions in three auditoria and the sound source on the stage. For visual stimuli, greyscale photographs were used, taken at the same positions in the three auditoria, with a visual target on the stage. Subjective experiments were conducted with auditory stimuli alone, visual stimuli alone, and visual and auditory stimuli combined. In these experiments, subjects rated apparent source width, listener envelopment, intimacy and source distance (auditory stimuli), and spaciousness, envelopment, stage dominance, intimacy and target distance (visual stimuli). Results show target distance to be of primary importance in auditory and visual spatial impression-thereby providing a basis for covariance between some attributes of auditory and visual spatial impression. Nevertheless, some attributes of spatial impression diverge between the senses.

  7. Auditory Masking Effects on Speech Fluency in Apraxia of Speech and Aphasia: Comparison to Altered Auditory Feedback

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    Jacks, Adam; Haley, Katarina L.

    2015-01-01

    Purpose: To study the effects of masked auditory feedback (MAF) on speech fluency in adults with aphasia and/or apraxia of speech (APH/AOS). We hypothesized that adults with AOS would increase speech fluency when speaking with noise. Altered auditory feedback (AAF; i.e., delayed/frequency-shifted feedback) was included as a control condition not…

  8. Kölliker’s Organ and the Development of Spontaneous Activity in the Auditory System: Implications for Hearing Dysfunction

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    M. W. Nishani Dayaratne

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Prior to the “onset of hearing,” developing cochlear inner hair cells (IHCs and primary auditory neurons undergo experience-independent activity, which is thought to be important in retaining and refining neural connections in the absence of sound. One of the major hypotheses regarding the origin of such activity involves a group of columnar epithelial supporting cells forming Kölliker’s organ, which is only present during this critical period of auditory development. There is strong evidence for a purinergic signalling mechanism underlying such activity. ATP released through connexin hemichannels may activate P2 purinergic receptors in both Kölliker’s organ and the adjacent IHCs, leading to generation of electrical activity throughout the auditory system. However, recent work has suggested an alternative origin, by demonstrating the ability of IHCs to generate this spontaneous activity without activation by ATP. Regardless, developmental abnormalities of Kölliker’s organ may lead to congenital hearing loss, considering that mutations in ion channels (hemichannels, gap junctions, and calcium channels involved in Kölliker’s organ activity share strong links with such types of deafness.

  9. Mapping a lateralisation gradient within the ventral stream for auditory speech perception

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    Karsten eSpecht

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Recent models on speech perception propose a dual stream processing network, with a dorsal stream, extending from the posterior temporal lobe of the left hemisphere through inferior parietal areas into the left inferior frontal gyrus, and a ventral stream that is assumed to originate in the primary auditory cortex in the upper posterior part of the temporal lobe and to extend towards the anterior part of the temporal lobe, where it may connect to the ventral part of the inferior frontal gyrus. This article describes and reviews the results from a series of complementary functional magnetic imaging (fMRI studies that aimed to trace the hierarchical processing network for speech comprehension within the left and right hemisphere with a particular focus on the temporal lobe and the ventral stream. As hypothesised, the results demonstrate a bilateral involvement of the temporal lobes in the processing of speech signals. However, an increasing leftward asymmetry was detected from auditory-phonetic to lexico-semantic processing and along the posterior-anterior axis, thus forming a lateralisation gradient. This increasing leftward lateralisation was particularly evident for the left superior temporal sulcus (STS and more anterior parts of the temporal lobe.

  10. Mapping a lateralization gradient within the ventral stream for auditory speech perception.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Specht, Karsten

    2013-01-01

    Recent models on speech perception propose a dual-stream processing network, with a dorsal stream, extending from the posterior temporal lobe of the left hemisphere through inferior parietal areas into the left inferior frontal gyrus, and a ventral stream that is assumed to originate in the primary auditory cortex in the upper posterior part of the temporal lobe and to extend toward the anterior part of the temporal lobe, where it may connect to the ventral part of the inferior frontal gyrus. This article describes and reviews the results from a series of complementary functional magnetic resonance imaging studies that aimed to trace the hierarchical processing network for speech comprehension within the left and right hemisphere with a particular focus on the temporal lobe and the ventral stream. As hypothesized, the results demonstrate a bilateral involvement of the temporal lobes in the processing of speech signals. However, an increasing leftward asymmetry was detected from auditory-phonetic to lexico-semantic processing and along the posterior-anterior axis, thus forming a "lateralization" gradient. This increasing leftward lateralization was particularly evident for the left superior temporal sulcus and more anterior parts of the temporal lobe.

  11. Electrical Brain Responses to an Auditory Illusion and the Impact of Musical Expertise.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ioannou, Christos I; Pereda, Ernesto; Lindsen, Job P; Bhattacharya, Joydeep

    2015-01-01

    The presentation of two sinusoidal tones, one to each ear, with a slight frequency mismatch yields an auditory illusion of a beating frequency equal to the frequency difference between the two tones; this is known as binaural beat (BB). The effect of brief BB stimulation on scalp EEG is not conclusively demonstrated. Further, no studies have examined the impact of musical training associated with BB stimulation, yet musicians' brains are often associated with enhanced auditory processing. In this study, we analysed EEG brain responses from two groups, musicians and non-musicians, when stimulated by short presentation (1 min) of binaural beats with beat frequency varying from 1 Hz to 48 Hz. We focused our analysis on alpha and gamma band EEG signals, and they were analysed in terms of spectral power, and functional connectivity as measured by two phase synchrony based measures, phase locking value and phase lag index. Finally, these measures were used to characterize the degree of centrality, segregation and integration of the functional brain network. We found that beat frequencies belonging to alpha band produced the most significant steady-state responses across groups. Further, processing of low frequency (delta, theta, alpha) binaural beats had significant impact on cortical network patterns in the alpha band oscillations. Altogether these results provide a neurophysiological account of cortical responses to BB stimulation at varying frequencies, and demonstrate a modulation of cortico-cortical connectivity in musicians' brains, and further suggest a kind of neuronal entrainment of a linear and nonlinear relationship to the beating frequencies.

  12. Electrical Brain Responses to an Auditory Illusion and the Impact of Musical Expertise.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Christos I Ioannou

    Full Text Available The presentation of two sinusoidal tones, one to each ear, with a slight frequency mismatch yields an auditory illusion of a beating frequency equal to the frequency difference between the two tones; this is known as binaural beat (BB. The effect of brief BB stimulation on scalp EEG is not conclusively demonstrated. Further, no studies have examined the impact of musical training associated with BB stimulation, yet musicians' brains are often associated with enhanced auditory processing. In this study, we analysed EEG brain responses from two groups, musicians and non-musicians, when stimulated by short presentation (1 min of binaural beats with beat frequency varying from 1 Hz to 48 Hz. We focused our analysis on alpha and gamma band EEG signals, and they were analysed in terms of spectral power, and functional connectivity as measured by two phase synchrony based measures, phase locking value and phase lag index. Finally, these measures were used to characterize the degree of centrality, segregation and integration of the functional brain network. We found that beat frequencies belonging to alpha band produced the most significant steady-state responses across groups. Further, processing of low frequency (delta, theta, alpha binaural beats had significant impact on cortical network patterns in the alpha band oscillations. Altogether these results provide a neurophysiological account of cortical responses to BB stimulation at varying frequencies, and demonstrate a modulation of cortico-cortical connectivity in musicians' brains, and further suggest a kind of neuronal entrainment of a linear and nonlinear relationship to the beating frequencies.

  13. Triangular relationship between sleep spindle activity, general cognitive ability and the efficiency of declarative learning.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Caroline Lustenberger

    Full Text Available EEG sleep spindle activity (SpA during non-rapid eye movement (NREM sleep has been reported to be associated with measures of intelligence and overnight performance improvements. The reticular nucleus of the thalamus is generating sleep spindles in interaction with thalamocortical connections. The same system enables efficient encoding and processing during wakefulness. Thus, we examined if the triangular relationship between SpA, measures of intelligence and declarative learning reflect the efficiency of the thalamocortical system. As expected, SpA was associated with general cognitive ability, e.g. information processing speed. SpA was also associated with learning efficiency, however, not with overnight performance improvement in a declarative memory task. SpA might therefore reflect the efficiency of the thalamocortical network and can be seen as a marker for learning during encoding in wakefulness, i.e. learning efficiency.

  14. Rapid estimation of high-parameter auditory-filter shapes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Yi; Sivakumar, Rajeswari; Richards, Virginia M.

    2014-01-01

    A Bayesian adaptive procedure, the quick-auditory-filter (qAF) procedure, was used to estimate auditory-filter shapes that were asymmetric about their peaks. In three experiments, listeners who were naive to psychoacoustic experiments detected a fixed-level, pure-tone target presented with a spectrally notched noise masker. The qAF procedure adaptively manipulated the masker spectrum level and the position of the masker notch, which was optimized for the efficient estimation of the five parameters of an auditory-filter model. Experiment I demonstrated that the qAF procedure provided a convergent estimate of the auditory-filter shape at 2 kHz within 150 to 200 trials (approximately 15 min to complete) and, for a majority of listeners, excellent test-retest reliability. In experiment II, asymmetric auditory filters were estimated for target frequencies of 1 and 4 kHz and target levels of 30 and 50 dB sound pressure level. The estimated filter shapes were generally consistent with published norms, especially at the low target level. It is known that the auditory-filter estimates are narrower for forward masking than simultaneous masking due to peripheral suppression, a result replicated in experiment III using fewer than 200 qAF trials. PMID:25324086

  15. Opposite brain laterality in analogous auditory and visual tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oltedal, Leif; Hugdahl, Kenneth

    2017-11-01

    Laterality for language processing can be assessed by auditory and visual tasks. Typically, a right ear/right visual half-field (VHF) advantage is observed, reflecting left-hemispheric lateralization for language. Historically, auditory tasks have shown more consistent and reliable results when compared to VHF tasks. While few studies have compared analogous tasks applied to both sensory modalities for the same participants, one such study by Voyer and Boudreau [(2003). Cross-modal correlation of auditory and visual language laterality tasks: a serendipitous finding. Brain Cogn, 53(2), 393-397] found opposite laterality for visual and auditory language tasks. We adapted an experimental paradigm based on a dichotic listening and VHF approach, and applied the combined language paradigm in two separate experiments, including fMRI in the second experiment to measure brain activation in addition to behavioural data. The first experiment showed a right-ear advantage for the auditory task, but a left half-field advantage for the visual task. The second experiment, confirmed the findings, with opposite laterality effects for the visual and auditory tasks. In conclusion, we replicate the finding by Voyer and Boudreau (2003) and support their interpretation that these visual and auditory language tasks measure different cognitive processes.

  16. Subcortical pathways: Towards a better understanding of auditory disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Felix, Richard A; Gourévitch, Boris; Portfors, Christine V

    2018-05-01

    Hearing loss is a significant problem that affects at least 15% of the population. This percentage, however, is likely significantly higher because of a variety of auditory disorders that are not identifiable through traditional tests of peripheral hearing ability. In these disorders, individuals have difficulty understanding speech, particularly in noisy environments, even though the sounds are loud enough to hear. The underlying mechanisms leading to such deficits are not well understood. To enable the development of suitable treatments to alleviate or prevent such disorders, the affected processing pathways must be identified. Historically, mechanisms underlying speech processing have been thought to be a property of the auditory cortex and thus the study of auditory disorders has largely focused on cortical impairments and/or cognitive processes. As we review here, however, there is strong evidence to suggest that, in fact, deficits in subcortical pathways play a significant role in auditory disorders. In this review, we highlight the role of the auditory brainstem and midbrain in processing complex sounds and discuss how deficits in these regions may contribute to auditory dysfunction. We discuss current research with animal models of human hearing and then consider human studies that implicate impairments in subcortical processing that may contribute to auditory disorders. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Auditory and visual memory in musicians and nonmusicians

    OpenAIRE

    Cohen, Michael A.; Evans, Karla K.; Horowitz, Todd S.; Wolfe, Jeremy M.

    2011-01-01

    Numerous studies have shown that musicians outperform nonmusicians on a variety of tasks. Here we provide the first evidence that musicians have superior auditory recognition memory for both musical and nonmusical stimuli, compared to nonmusicians. However, this advantage did not generalize to the visual domain. Previously, we showed that auditory recognition memory is inferior to visual recognition memory. Would this be true even for trained musicians? We compared auditory and visual memory ...

  18. Air pollution is associated with brainstem auditory nuclei pathology and delayed brainstem auditory evoked potentials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Calderón-Garcidueñas, Lilian; D'Angiulli, Amedeo; Kulesza, Randy J; Torres-Jardón, Ricardo; Osnaya, Norma; Romero, Lina; Keefe, Sheyla; Herritt, Lou; Brooks, Diane M; Avila-Ramirez, Jose; Delgado-Chávez, Ricardo; Medina-Cortina, Humberto; González-González, Luis Oscar

    2011-06-01

    We assessed brainstem inflammation in children exposed to air pollutants by comparing brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) and blood inflammatory markers in children age 96.3±8.5 months from highly polluted (n=34) versus a low polluted city (n=17). The brainstems of nine children with accidental deaths were also examined. Children from the highly polluted environment had significant delays in wave III (t(50)=17.038; p7.501; p<0.0001), consisting with delayed central conduction time of brainstem neural transmission. Highly exposed children showed significant evidence of inflammatory markers and their auditory and vestibular nuclei accumulated α synuclein and/or β amyloid(1-42). Medial superior olive neurons, critically involved in BAEPs, displayed significant pathology. Children's exposure to urban air pollution increases their risk for auditory and vestibular impairment. Copyright © 2011 ISDN. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Psychophysical and Neural Correlates of Auditory Attraction and Aversion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patten, Kristopher Jakob

    This study explores the psychophysical and neural processes associated with the perception of sounds as either pleasant or aversive. The underlying psychophysical theory is based on auditory scene analysis, the process through which listeners parse auditory signals into individual acoustic sources. The first experiment tests and confirms that a self-rated pleasantness continuum reliably exists for 20 various stimuli (r = .48). In addition, the pleasantness continuum correlated with the physical acoustic characteristics of consonance/dissonance (r = .78), which can facilitate auditory parsing processes. The second experiment uses an fMRI block design to test blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) changes elicited by a subset of 5 exemplar stimuli chosen from Experiment 1 that are evenly distributed over the pleasantness continuum. Specifically, it tests and confirms that the pleasantness continuum produces systematic changes in brain activity for unpleasant acoustic stimuli beyond what occurs with pleasant auditory stimuli. Results revealed that the combination of two positively and two negatively valenced experimental sounds compared to one neutral baseline control elicited BOLD increases in the primary auditory cortex, specifically the bilateral superior temporal gyrus, and left dorsomedial prefrontal cortex; the latter being consistent with a frontal decision-making process common in identification tasks. The negatively-valenced stimuli yielded additional BOLD increases in the left insula, which typically indicates processing of visceral emotions. The positively-valenced stimuli did not yield any significant BOLD activation, consistent with consonant, harmonic stimuli being the prototypical acoustic pattern of auditory objects that is optimal for auditory scene analysis. Both the psychophysical findings of Experiment 1 and the neural processing findings of Experiment 2 support that consonance is an important dimension of sound that is processed in a manner that aids

  20. Middle components of the auditory evoked response in bilateral temporal lobe lesions. Report on a patient with auditory agnosia

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Parving, A; Salomon, G; Elberling, Claus

    1980-01-01

    An investigation of the middle components of the auditory evoked response (10--50 msec post-stimulus) in a patient with auditory agnosia is reported. Bilateral temporal lobe infarctions were proved by means of brain scintigraphy, CAT scanning, and regional cerebral blood flow measurements...

  1. Auditory memory for temporal characteristics of sound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zokoll, Melanie A; Klump, Georg M; Langemann, Ulrike

    2008-05-01

    This study evaluates auditory memory for variations in the rate of sinusoidal amplitude modulation (SAM) of noise bursts in the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris). To estimate the extent of the starling's auditory short-term memory store, a delayed non-matching-to-sample paradigm was applied. The birds were trained to discriminate between a series of identical "sample stimuli" and a single "test stimulus". The birds classified SAM rates of sample and test stimuli as being either the same or different. Memory performance of the birds was measured as the percentage of correct classifications. Auditory memory persistence time was estimated as a function of the delay between sample and test stimuli. Memory performance was significantly affected by the delay between sample and test and by the number of sample stimuli presented before the test stimulus, but was not affected by the difference in SAM rate between sample and test stimuli. The individuals' auditory memory persistence times varied between 2 and 13 s. The starlings' auditory memory persistence in the present study for signals varying in the temporal domain was significantly shorter compared to that of a previous study (Zokoll et al. in J Acoust Soc Am 121:2842, 2007) applying tonal stimuli varying in the spectral domain.

  2. Effects of Caffeine on Auditory Brainstem Response

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Saleheh Soleimanian

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aim: Blocking of the adenosine receptor in central nervous system by caffeine can lead to increasing the level of neurotransmitters like glutamate. As the adenosine receptors are present in almost all brain areas like central auditory pathway, it seems caffeine can change conduction in this way. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of caffeine on latency and amplitude of auditory brainstem response(ABR.Materials and Methods: In this clinical trial study 43 normal 18-25 years old male students were participated. The subjects consumed 0, 2 and 3 mg/kg BW caffeine in three different sessions. Auditory brainstem responses were recorded before and 30 minute after caffeine consumption. The results were analyzed by Friedman and Wilcoxone test to assess the effects of caffeine on auditory brainstem response.Results: Compared to control group the latencies of waves III,V and I-V interpeak interval of the cases decreased significantly after 2 and 3mg/kg BW caffeine consumption. Wave I latency significantly decreased after 3mg/kg BW caffeine consumption(p<0.01. Conclusion: Increasing of the glutamate level resulted from the adenosine receptor blocking brings about changes in conduction in the central auditory pathway.

  3. Auditory capture of visual motion: effects on perception and discrimination.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCourt, Mark E; Leone, Lynnette M

    2016-09-28

    We asked whether the perceived direction of visual motion and contrast thresholds for motion discrimination are influenced by the concurrent motion of an auditory sound source. Visual motion stimuli were counterphasing Gabor patches, whose net motion energy was manipulated by adjusting the contrast of the leftward-moving and rightward-moving components. The presentation of these visual stimuli was paired with the simultaneous presentation of auditory stimuli, whose apparent motion in 3D auditory space (rightward, leftward, static, no sound) was manipulated using interaural time and intensity differences, and Doppler cues. In experiment 1, observers judged whether the Gabor visual stimulus appeared to move rightward or leftward. In experiment 2, contrast discrimination thresholds for detecting the interval containing unequal (rightward or leftward) visual motion energy were obtained under the same auditory conditions. Experiment 1 showed that the perceived direction of ambiguous visual motion is powerfully influenced by concurrent auditory motion, such that auditory motion 'captured' ambiguous visual motion. Experiment 2 showed that this interaction occurs at a sensory stage of processing as visual contrast discrimination thresholds (a criterion-free measure of sensitivity) were significantly elevated when paired with congruent auditory motion. These results suggest that auditory and visual motion signals are integrated and combined into a supramodal (audiovisual) representation of motion.

  4. Strategy choice mediates the link between auditory processing and spelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwong, Tru E; Brachman, Kyle J

    2014-01-01

    Relations among linguistic auditory processing, nonlinguistic auditory processing, spelling ability, and spelling strategy choice were examined. Sixty-three undergraduate students completed measures of auditory processing (one involving distinguishing similar tones, one involving distinguishing similar phonemes, and one involving selecting appropriate spellings for individual phonemes). Participants also completed a modified version of a standardized spelling test, and a secondary spelling test with retrospective strategy reports. Once testing was completed, participants were divided into phonological versus nonphonological spellers on the basis of the number of words they spelled using phonological strategies only. Results indicated a) moderate to strong positive correlations among the different auditory processing tasks in terms of reaction time, but not accuracy levels, and b) weak to moderate positive correlations between measures of linguistic auditory processing (phoneme distinction and phoneme spelling choice in the presence of foils) and spelling ability for phonological spellers, but not for nonphonological spellers. These results suggest a possible explanation for past contradictory research on auditory processing and spelling, which has been divided in terms of whether or not disabled spellers seemed to have poorer auditory processing than did typically developing spellers, and suggest implications for teaching spelling to children with good versus poor auditory processing abilities.

  5. Maintenance of auditory-nonverbal information in working memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soemer, Alexander; Saito, Satoru

    2015-12-01

    According to the multicomponent view of working memory, both auditory-nonverbal information and auditory-verbal information are stored in a phonological code and are maintained by an articulation-based rehearsal mechanism (Baddeley, 2012). Two experiments have been carried out to investigate this hypothesis using sound materials that are difficult to label verbally and difficult to articulate. Participants were required to maintain 2 to 4 sounds differing in timbre over a delay of up to 12 seconds while performing different secondary tasks. While there was no convincing evidence for articulatory rehearsal as a main maintenance mechanism for auditory-nonverbal information, the results suggest that processes similar or identical to auditory imagery might contribute to maintenance. We discuss the implications of these results for multicomponent models of working memory.

  6. Magnetic resonance imaging of the internal auditory canal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Daniels, D.L.; Herfkins, R.; Koehler, P.R.; Millen, S.J.; Shaffer, K.A.; Williams, A.L.; Haughton, V.M.

    1984-01-01

    Three patients with exclusively or predominantly intracanalicular neuromas and 5 with presumably normal internal auditory canals were examined with prototype 1.4- or 1.5-tesla magnetic resonance (MR) scanners. MR images showed the 7th and 8th cranial nerves in the internal auditory canal. The intracanalicular neuromas had larger diameter and slightly greater signal strength than the nerves. Early results suggest that minimal enlargement of the nerves can be detected even in the internal auditory canal

  7. A basic study on universal design of auditory signals in automobiles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamauchi, Katsuya; Choi, Jong-dae; Maiguma, Ryo; Takada, Masayuki; Iwamiya, Shin-ichiro

    2004-11-01

    In this paper, the impression of various kinds of auditory signals currently used in automobiles and a comprehensive evaluation were measured by a semantic differential method. The desirable acoustic characteristic was examined for each type of auditory signal. Sharp sounds with dominant high-frequency components were not suitable for auditory signals in automobiles. This trend is expedient for the aged whose auditory sensitivity in the high frequency region is lower. When intermittent sounds were used, a longer OFF time was suitable. Generally, "dull (not sharp)" and "calm" sounds were appropriate for auditory signals. Furthermore, the comparison between the frequency spectrum of interior noise in automobiles and that of suitable sounds for various auditory signals indicates that the suitable sounds are not easily masked. The suitable auditory signals for various purposes is a good solution from the viewpoint of universal design.

  8. Dynamic analysis of the conditional oscillator underlying slow waves in thalamocortical neurons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francois eDavid

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available During non-REM sleep the EEG shows characteristics waves that are generated by the dynamic interactions between cortical and thalamic oscillators. In thalamic neurons, low-threshold T-type Ca2+ channels play a pivotal role in almost every type of neuronal oscillations, including slow (<1 Hz waves, sleep spindles and delta waves. The transient opening of T channels gives rise to the low threshold spikes (LTSs, and associated high frequency bursts of action potentials, that are characteristically present during sleep spindles and delta waves, whereas the persistent opening of a small fraction of T channels, (i.e. ITwindow is responsible for the membrane potential bistability underlying sleep slow oscillations. Surprisingly thalamocortical (TC neurons express a very high density of T channels that largely exceed the amount required to generate LTSs and therefore, to support certain, if not all, sleep oscillations. Here, to clarify the relationship between T current density and sleep oscillations, we systematically investigated the impact of the T conductance level on the intrinsic rhythmic activities generated in TC neurons, combining in vitro experiments and TC neuron simulation. Using bifurcation analysis, we provide insights into the dynamical processes taking place at the transition between slow and delta oscillations. Our results show that although stable delta oscillations can be evoked with minimal T conductance, the full range of slow oscillation patterns, including groups of delta oscillations separated by Up states (grouped-delta slow waves requires a high density of T channels. Moreover, high levels of T conductance ensure the robustness of different types of slow oscillations.

  9. Presbycusis and auditory brainstem responses: a review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shilpa Khullar

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Age-related hearing loss or presbycusis is a complex phenomenon consisting of elevation of hearing levels as well as changes in the auditory processing. It is commonly classified into four categories depending on the cause. Auditory brainstem responses (ABRs are a type of early evoked potentials recorded within the first 10 ms of stimulation. They represent the synchronized activity of the auditory nerve and the brainstem. Some of the changes that occur in the aging auditory system may significantly influence the interpretation of the ABRs in comparison with the ABRs of the young adults. The waves of ABRs are described in terms of amplitude, latencies and interpeak latency of the different waves. There is a tendency of the amplitude to decrease and the absolute latencies to increase with advancing age but these trends are not always clear due to increase in threshold with advancing age that act a major confounding factor in the interpretation of ABRs.

  10. Negative emotion provides cues for orienting auditory spatial attention

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Erkin eAsutay

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The auditory stimuli provide information about the objects and events around us. They can also carry biologically significant emotional information (such as unseen dangers and conspecific vocalizations, which provides cues for allocation of attention and mental resources. Here, we investigated whether task-irrelevant auditory emotional information can provide cues for orientation of auditory spatial attention. We employed a covert spatial orienting task: the dot-probe task. In each trial, two task irrelevant auditory cues were simultaneously presented at two separate locations (left-right or front-back. Environmental sounds were selected to form emotional vs. neutral, emotional vs. emotional, and neutral vs. neutral cue pairs. The participants’ task was to detect the location of an acoustic target that was presented immediately after the task-irrelevant auditory cues. The target was presented at the same location as one of the auditory cues. The results indicated that participants were significantly faster to locate the target when it replaced the negative cue compared to when it replaced the neutral cue. The positive cues did not produce a clear attentional bias. Further, same valence pairs (emotional-emotional or neutral-neutral did not modulate reaction times due to a lack of spatial attention capture by one cue in the pair. Taken together, the results indicate that negative affect can provide cues for the orientation of spatial attention in the auditory domain.

  11. Functional-structural reorganisation of the neuronal network for auditory perception in subjects with unilateral hearing loss: Review of neuroimaging studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heggdal, Peder O Laugen; Brännström, Jonas; Aarstad, Hans Jørgen; Vassbotn, Flemming S; Specht, Karsten

    2016-02-01

    This paper aims to provide a review of studies using neuroimaging to measure functional-structural reorganisation of the neuronal network for auditory perception after unilateral hearing loss. A literature search was performed in PubMed. Search criterions were peer reviewed original research papers in English completed by the 11th of March 2015. Twelve studies were found to use neuroimaging in subjects with unilateral hearing loss. An additional five papers not identified by the literature search were provided by a reviewer. Thus, a total of 17 studies were included in the review. Four different neuroimaging methods were used in these studies: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) (n = 11), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) (n = 4), T1/T2 volumetric images (n = 2), magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) (n = 1). One study utilized two imaging methods (fMRI and T1 volumetric images). Neuroimaging techniques could provide valuable information regarding the effects of unilateral hearing loss on both auditory and non-auditory performance. fMRI-studies showing a bilateral BOLD-response in patients with unilateral hearing loss have not yet been followed by DTI studies confirming their microstructural correlates. In addition, the review shows that an auditory modality-specific deficit could affect multi-modal brain regions and their connections. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Touching lips and hearing fingers: effector-specific congruency between tactile and auditory stimulation modulates N1 amplitude and alpha desynchronization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shen, Guannan; Meltzoff, Andrew N; Marshall, Peter J

    2018-01-01

    Understanding the interactions between audition and sensorimotor processes is of theoretical importance, particularly in relation to speech processing. Although one current focus in this area is on interactions between auditory perception and the motor system, there has been less research on connections between the auditory and somatosensory modalities. The current study takes a novel approach to this omission by examining specific auditory-tactile interactions in the context of speech and non-speech sound production. Electroencephalography was used to examine brain responses when participants were presented with speech syllables (a bilabial sound /pa/ and a non-labial sound /ka/) or finger-snapping sounds that were simultaneously paired with tactile stimulation of either the lower lip or the right middle finger. Analyses focused on the sensory-evoked N1 in the event-related potential and the extent of alpha band desynchronization elicited by the stimuli. N1 amplitude over fronto-central sites was significantly enhanced when the bilabial /pa/ sound was paired with tactile lip stimulation and when the finger-snapping sound was paired with tactile stimulation of the finger. Post-stimulus alpha desynchronization at central sites was also enhanced when the /pa/ sound was accompanied by tactile stimulation of the lip. These novel findings indicate that neural aspects of somatosensory-auditory interactions are influenced by the congruency between the location of the bodily touch and the bodily origin of a perceived sound.

  13. [Low level auditory skills compared to writing skills in school children attending third and fourth grade: evidence for the rapid auditory processing deficit theory?].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ptok, M; Meisen, R

    2008-01-01

    The rapid auditory processing defi-cit theory holds that impaired reading/writing skills are not caused exclusively by a cognitive deficit specific to representation and processing of speech sounds but arise due to sensory, mainly auditory, deficits. To further explore this theory we compared different measures of auditory low level skills to writing skills in school children. prospective study. School children attending third and fourth grade. just noticeable differences for intensity and frequency (JNDI, JNDF), gap detection (GD) monaural and binaural temporal order judgement (TOJb and TOJm); grade in writing, language and mathematics. correlation analysis. No relevant correlation was found between any auditory low level processing variable and writing skills. These data do not support the rapid auditory processing deficit theory.

  14. Auditory Processing Disorder and Foreign Language Acquisition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Veselovska, Ganna

    2015-01-01

    This article aims at exploring various strategies for coping with the auditory processing disorder in the light of foreign language acquisition. The techniques relevant to dealing with the auditory processing disorder can be attributed to environmental and compensatory approaches. The environmental one involves actions directed at creating a…

  15. Bilateral duplication of the internal auditory canal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Weon, Young Cheol; Kim, Jae Hyoung; Choi, Sung Kyu; Koo, Ja-Won

    2007-01-01

    Duplication of the internal auditory canal is an extremely rare temporal bone anomaly that is believed to result from aplasia or hypoplasia of the vestibulocochlear nerve. We report bilateral duplication of the internal auditory canal in a 28-month-old boy with developmental delay and sensorineural hearing loss. (orig.)

  16. Primary Auditory Cortex Regulates Threat Memory Specificity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wigestrand, Mattis B.; Schiff, Hillary C.; Fyhn, Marianne; LeDoux, Joseph E.; Sears, Robert M.

    2017-01-01

    Distinguishing threatening from nonthreatening stimuli is essential for survival and stimulus generalization is a hallmark of anxiety disorders. While auditory threat learning produces long-lasting plasticity in primary auditory cortex (Au1), it is not clear whether such Au1 plasticity regulates memory specificity or generalization. We used…

  17. Auditory and communicative abilities in the auditory neuropathy spectrum disorder and mutation in the Otoferlin gene: clinical cases study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Nayara Thais de Oliveira; Martinho-Carvalho, Ana Claudia; Cunha, Maria Claudia; Lewis, Doris Ruthi

    2012-01-01

    This study had the aim to investigate the auditory and communicative abilities of children diagnosed with Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder due to mutation in the Otoferlin gene. It is a descriptive and qualitative study in which two siblings with this diagnosis were assessed. The procedures conducted were: speech perception tests for children with profound hearing loss, and assessment of communication abilities using the Behavioral Observation Protocol. Because they were siblings, the subjects in the study shared family and communicative context. However, they developed different communication abilities, especially regarding the use of oral language. The study showed that the Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder is a heterogeneous condition in all its aspects, and it is not possible to make generalizations or assume that cases with similar clinical features will develop similar auditory and communicative abilities, even when they are siblings. It is concluded that the acquisition of communicative abilities involves subjective factors, which should be investigated based on the uniqueness of each case.

  18. Reduced auditory processing capacity during vocalization in children with Selective Mutism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arie, Miri; Henkin, Yael; Lamy, Dominique; Tetin-Schneider, Simona; Apter, Alan; Sadeh, Avi; Bar-Haim, Yair

    2007-02-01

    Because abnormal Auditory Efferent Activity (AEA) is associated with auditory distortions during vocalization, we tested whether auditory processing is impaired during vocalization in children with Selective Mutism (SM). Participants were children with SM and abnormal AEA, children with SM and normal AEA, and normally speaking controls, who had to detect aurally presented target words embedded within word lists under two conditions: silence (single task), and while vocalizing (dual task). To ascertain specificity of auditory-vocal deficit, effects of concurrent vocalizing were also examined during a visual task. Children with SM and abnormal AEA showed impaired auditory processing during vocalization relative to children with SM and normal AEA, and relative to control children. This impairment is specific to the auditory modality and does not reflect difficulties in dual task per se. The data extends previous findings suggesting that deficient auditory processing is involved in speech selectivity in SM.

  19. A Case of Generalized Auditory Agnosia with Unilateral Subcortical Brain Lesion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suh, Hyee; Kim, Soo Yeon; Kim, Sook Hee; Chang, Jae Hyeok; Shin, Yong Beom; Ko, Hyun-Yoon

    2012-01-01

    The mechanisms and functional anatomy underlying the early stages of speech perception are still not well understood. Auditory agnosia is a deficit of auditory object processing defined as a disability to recognize spoken languages and/or nonverbal environmental sounds and music despite adequate hearing while spontaneous speech, reading and writing are preserved. Usually, either the bilateral or unilateral temporal lobe, especially the transverse gyral lesions, are responsible for auditory agnosia. Subcortical lesions without cortical damage rarely causes auditory agnosia. We present a 73-year-old right-handed male with generalized auditory agnosia caused by a unilateral subcortical lesion. He was not able to repeat or dictate but to perform fluent and comprehensible speech. He could understand and read written words and phrases. His auditory brainstem evoked potential and audiometry were intact. This case suggested that the subcortical lesion involving unilateral acoustic radiation could cause generalized auditory agnosia. PMID:23342322

  20. Prenatal and adolescent exposure to tobacco smoke modulates the development of white matter microstructure.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacobsen, Leslie K; Picciotto, Marina R; Heath, Christopher J; Frost, Stephen J; Tsou, Kristen A; Dwan, Rita A; Jackowski, Marcel P; Constable, Robert T; Mencl, W Einar

    2007-12-05

    Prenatal exposure to maternal smoking has been linked to cognitive and auditory processing deficits in offspring. Preclinical studies have demonstrated that exposure to nicotine disrupts neurodevelopment during gestation and adolescence, possibly by disrupting the trophic effects of acetylcholine. Given recent clinical and preclinical work suggesting that neurocircuits that support auditory processing may be particularly vulnerable to developmental disruption by nicotine, we examined white matter microstructure in 67 adolescent smokers and nonsmokers with and without prenatal exposure to maternal smoking. The groups did not differ in age, educational attainment, IQ, years of parent education, or symptoms of inattention. Diffusion tensor anisotropy and anatomical magnetic resonance images were acquired, and auditory attention was assessed, in all subjects. Both prenatal exposure and adolescent exposure to tobacco smoke was associated with increased fractional anisotropy (FA) in anterior cortical white matter. Adolescent smoking was also associated with increased FA of regions of the internal capsule that contain auditory thalamocortical and corticofugal fibers. FA of the posterior limb of the left internal capsule was positively correlated with reaction time during performance of an auditory attention task in smokers but not in nonsmokers. Development of anterior cortical and internal capsule fibers may be particularly vulnerable to disruption in cholinergic signaling induced by nicotine in tobacco smoke. Nicotine-induced disruption of the development of auditory corticofugal fibers may interfere with the ability of these fibers to modulate ascending auditory signals, leading to greater noise and reduced efficiency of neurocircuitry that supports auditory processing.

  1. Using Facebook to Reach People Who Experience Auditory Hallucinations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crosier, Benjamin Sage; Brian, Rachel Marie; Ben-Zeev, Dror

    2016-06-14

    Auditory hallucinations (eg, hearing voices) are relatively common and underreported false sensory experiences that may produce distress and impairment. A large proportion of those who experience auditory hallucinations go unidentified and untreated. Traditional engagement methods oftentimes fall short in reaching the diverse population of people who experience auditory hallucinations. The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to examine the viability of leveraging Web-based social media as a method of engaging people who experience auditory hallucinations and to evaluate their attitudes toward using social media platforms as a resource for Web-based support and technology-based treatment. We used Facebook advertisements to recruit individuals who experience auditory hallucinations to complete an 18-item Web-based survey focused on issues related to auditory hallucinations and technology use in American adults. We systematically tested multiple elements of the advertisement and survey layout including image selection, survey pagination, question ordering, and advertising targeting strategy. Each element was evaluated sequentially and the most cost-effective strategy was implemented in the subsequent steps, eventually deriving an optimized approach. Three open-ended question responses were analyzed using conventional inductive content analysis. Coded responses were quantified into binary codes, and frequencies were then calculated. Recruitment netted N=264 total sample over a 6-week period. Ninety-seven participants fully completed all measures at a total cost of $8.14 per participant across testing phases. Systematic adjustments to advertisement design, survey layout, and targeting strategies improved data quality and cost efficiency. People were willing to provide information on what triggered their auditory hallucinations along with strategies they use to cope, as well as provide suggestions to others who experience auditory hallucinations. Women, people

  2. Using Facebook to Reach People Who Experience Auditory Hallucinations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brian, Rachel Marie; Ben-Zeev, Dror

    2016-01-01

    Background Auditory hallucinations (eg, hearing voices) are relatively common and underreported false sensory experiences that may produce distress and impairment. A large proportion of those who experience auditory hallucinations go unidentified and untreated. Traditional engagement methods oftentimes fall short in reaching the diverse population of people who experience auditory hallucinations. Objective The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to examine the viability of leveraging Web-based social media as a method of engaging people who experience auditory hallucinations and to evaluate their attitudes toward using social media platforms as a resource for Web-based support and technology-based treatment. Methods We used Facebook advertisements to recruit individuals who experience auditory hallucinations to complete an 18-item Web-based survey focused on issues related to auditory hallucinations and technology use in American adults. We systematically tested multiple elements of the advertisement and survey layout including image selection, survey pagination, question ordering, and advertising targeting strategy. Each element was evaluated sequentially and the most cost-effective strategy was implemented in the subsequent steps, eventually deriving an optimized approach. Three open-ended question responses were analyzed using conventional inductive content analysis. Coded responses were quantified into binary codes, and frequencies were then calculated. Results Recruitment netted N=264 total sample over a 6-week period. Ninety-seven participants fully completed all measures at a total cost of $8.14 per participant across testing phases. Systematic adjustments to advertisement design, survey layout, and targeting strategies improved data quality and cost efficiency. People were willing to provide information on what triggered their auditory hallucinations along with strategies they use to cope, as well as provide suggestions to others who experience

  3. Molecular approach of auditory neuropathy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Magali Aparecida Orate Menezes da; Piatto, Vânia Belintani; Maniglia, Jose Victor

    2015-01-01

    Mutations in the otoferlin gene are responsible for auditory neuropathy. To investigate the prevalence of mutations in the mutations in the otoferlin gene in patients with and without auditory neuropathy. This original cross-sectional case study evaluated 16 index cases with auditory neuropathy, 13 patients with sensorineural hearing loss, and 20 normal-hearing subjects. DNA was extracted from peripheral blood leukocytes, and the mutations in the otoferlin gene sites were amplified by polymerase chain reaction/restriction fragment length polymorphism. The 16 index cases included nine (56%) females and seven (44%) males. The 13 deaf patients comprised seven (54%) males and six (46%) females. Among the 20 normal-hearing subjects, 13 (65%) were males and seven were (35%) females. Thirteen (81%) index cases had wild-type genotype (AA) and three (19%) had the heterozygous AG genotype for IVS8-2A-G (intron 8) mutation. The 5473C-G (exon 44) mutation was found in a heterozygous state (CG) in seven (44%) index cases and nine (56%) had the wild-type allele (CC). Of these mutants, two (25%) were compound heterozygotes for the mutations found in intron 8 and exon 44. All patients with sensorineural hearing loss and normal-hearing individuals did not have mutations (100%). There are differences at the molecular level in patients with and without auditory neuropathy. Copyright © 2015 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  4. Visual and auditory perception in preschool children at risk for dyslexia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortiz, Rosario; Estévez, Adelina; Muñetón, Mercedes; Domínguez, Carolina

    2014-11-01

    Recently, there has been renewed interest in perceptive problems of dyslexics. A polemic research issue in this area has been the nature of the perception deficit. Another issue is the causal role of this deficit in dyslexia. Most studies have been carried out in adult and child literates; consequently, the observed deficits may be the result rather than the cause of dyslexia. This study addresses these issues by examining visual and auditory perception in children at risk for dyslexia. We compared children from preschool with and without risk for dyslexia in auditory and visual temporal order judgment tasks and same-different discrimination tasks. Identical visual and auditory, linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli were presented in both tasks. The results revealed that the visual as well as the auditory perception of children at risk for dyslexia is impaired. The comparison between groups in auditory and visual perception shows that the achievement of children at risk was lower than children without risk for dyslexia in the temporal tasks. There were no differences between groups in auditory discrimination tasks. The difficulties of children at risk in visual and auditory perceptive processing affected both linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli. Our conclusions are that children at risk for dyslexia show auditory and visual perceptive deficits for linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli. The auditory impairment may be explained by temporal processing problems and these problems are more serious for processing language than for processing other auditory stimuli. These visual and auditory perceptive deficits are not the consequence of failing to learn to read, thus, these findings support the theory of temporal processing deficit. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Evolutionary conservation and neuronal mechanisms of auditory perceptual restoration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petkov, Christopher I; Sutter, Mitchell L

    2011-01-01

    Auditory perceptual 'restoration' occurs when the auditory system restores an occluded or masked sound of interest. Behavioral work on auditory restoration in humans began over 50 years ago using it to model a noisy environmental scene with competing sounds. It has become clear that not only humans experience auditory restoration: restoration has been broadly conserved in many species. Behavioral studies in humans and animals provide a necessary foundation to link the insights being obtained from human EEG and fMRI to those from animal neurophysiology. The aggregate of data resulting from multiple approaches across species has begun to clarify the neuronal bases of auditory restoration. Different types of neural responses supporting restoration have been found, supportive of multiple mechanisms working within a species. Yet a general principle has emerged that responses correlated with restoration mimic the response that would have been given to the uninterrupted sound of interest. Using the same technology to study different species will help us to better harness animal models of 'auditory scene analysis' to clarify the conserved neural mechanisms shaping the perceptual organization of sound and to advance strategies to improve hearing in natural environmental settings. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Auditory and visual evoked potentials during hyperoxia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, D. B. D.; Strawbridge, P. J.

    1974-01-01

    Experimental study of the auditory and visual averaged evoked potentials (AEPs) recorded during hyperoxia, and investigation of the effect of hyperoxia on the so-called contingent negative variation (CNV). No effect of hyperoxia was found on the auditory AEP, the visual AEP, or the CNV. Comparisons with previous studies are discussed.

  7. Altered Intrinsic Functional Connectivity in Language-Related Brain Regions in Association with Verbal Memory Performance in Euthymic Bipolar Patients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David E. J. Linden

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Potential abnormalities in the structure and function of the temporal lobes have been studied much less in bipolar disorder than in schizophrenia. This may not be justified because language-related symptoms, such as pressured speech and flight of ideas, and cognitive deficits in the domain of verbal memory are amongst the hallmark of bipolar disorder (BD, and contribution of temporal lobe dysfunction is therefore likely. In the current study, we examined resting-state functional connectivity (FC between the auditory cortex (Heschl’s gyrus [HG], planum temporale [PT] and whole brain using seed correlation analysis in n = 21 BD euthymic patients and n = 20 matched healthy controls and associated it with verbal memory performance. In comparison to controls BD patients showed decreased functional connectivity between Heschl’s gyrus and planum temporale and the left superior and middle temporal gyrus. Additionally, fronto-temporal functional connectivity with the right inferior frontal/precentral gyrus and the insula was increased in patients. Verbal episodic memory deficits in the investigated sample of BD patients and language-related symptoms might therefore be associated with a diminished FC within the auditory/temporal gyrus and a compensatory fronto-temporal pathway.

  8. Auditory filters at low-frequencies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Orellana, Carlos Andrés Jurado; Pedersen, Christian Sejer; Møller, Henrik

    2009-01-01

    -ear transfer function), the asymmetry of the auditory filter changed from steeper high-frequency slopes at 1000 Hz to steeper low-frequency slopes below 100 Hz. Increasing steepness at low-frequencies of the middle-ear high-pass filter is thought to cause this effect. The dynamic range of the auditory filter...... was found to steadily decrease with decreasing center frequency. Although the observed decrease in filter bandwidth with decreasing center frequency was only approximately monotonic, the preliminary data indicates the filter bandwidth does not stabilize around 100 Hz, e.g. it still decreases below...

  9. Left hemispheric dominance during auditory processing in a noisy environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ross Bernhard

    2007-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In daily life, we are exposed to different sound inputs simultaneously. During neural encoding in the auditory pathway, neural activities elicited by these different sounds interact with each other. In the present study, we investigated neural interactions elicited by masker and amplitude-modulated test stimulus in primary and non-primary human auditory cortex during ipsi-lateral and contra-lateral masking by means of magnetoencephalography (MEG. Results We observed significant decrements of auditory evoked responses and a significant inter-hemispheric difference for the N1m response during both ipsi- and contra-lateral masking. Conclusion The decrements of auditory evoked neural activities during simultaneous masking can be explained by neural interactions evoked by masker and test stimulus in peripheral and central auditory systems. The inter-hemispheric differences of N1m decrements during ipsi- and contra-lateral masking reflect a basic hemispheric specialization contributing to the processing of complex auditory stimuli such as speech signals in noisy environments.

  10. Acute auditory agnosia as the presenting hearing disorder in MELAS.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miceli, Gabriele; Conti, Guido; Cianfoni, Alessandro; Di Giacopo, Raffaella; Zampetti, Patrizia; Servidei, Serenella

    2008-12-01

    MELAS is commonly associated with peripheral hearing loss. Auditory agnosia is a rare cortical auditory impairment, usually due to bilateral temporal damage. We document, for the first time, auditory agnosia as the presenting hearing disorder in MELAS. A young woman with MELAS (A3243G mtDNA mutation) suffered from acute cortical hearing damage following a single stroke-like episode, in the absence of previous hearing deficits. Audiometric testing showed marked central hearing impairment and very mild sensorineural hearing loss. MRI documented bilateral, acute lesions to superior temporal regions. Neuropsychological tests demonstrated auditory agnosia without aphasia. Our data and a review of published reports show that cortical auditory disorders are relatively frequent in MELAS, probably due to the strikingly high incidence of bilateral and symmetric damage following stroke-like episodes. Acute auditory agnosia can be the presenting hearing deficit in MELAS and, conversely, MELAS should be suspected in young adults with sudden hearing loss.

  11. Using Facebook to Reach People Who Experience Auditory Hallucinations

    OpenAIRE

    Crosier, Benjamin Sage; Brian, Rachel Marie; Ben-Zeev, Dror

    2016-01-01

    Background Auditory hallucinations (eg, hearing voices) are relatively common and underreported false sensory experiences that may produce distress and impairment. A large proportion of those who experience auditory hallucinations go unidentified and untreated. Traditional engagement methods oftentimes fall short in reaching the diverse population of people who experience auditory hallucinations. Objective The objective of this proof-of-concept study was to examine the viability of leveraging...

  12. Auditory and Non-Auditory Contributions for Unaided Speech Recognition in Noise as a Function of Hearing Aid Use.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gieseler, Anja; Tahden, Maike A S; Thiel, Christiane M; Wagener, Kirsten C; Meis, Markus; Colonius, Hans

    2017-01-01

    Differences in understanding speech in noise among hearing-impaired individuals cannot be explained entirely by hearing thresholds alone, suggesting the contribution of other factors beyond standard auditory ones as derived from the audiogram. This paper reports two analyses addressing individual differences in the explanation of unaided speech-in-noise performance among n = 438 elderly hearing-impaired listeners ( mean = 71.1 ± 5.8 years). The main analysis was designed to identify clinically relevant auditory and non-auditory measures for speech-in-noise prediction using auditory (audiogram, categorical loudness scaling) and cognitive tests (verbal-intelligence test, screening test of dementia), as well as questionnaires assessing various self-reported measures (health status, socio-economic status, and subjective hearing problems). Using stepwise linear regression analysis, 62% of the variance in unaided speech-in-noise performance was explained, with measures Pure-tone average (PTA), Age , and Verbal intelligence emerging as the three most important predictors. In the complementary analysis, those individuals with the same hearing loss profile were separated into hearing aid users (HAU) and non-users (NU), and were then compared regarding potential differences in the test measures and in explaining unaided speech-in-noise recognition. The groupwise comparisons revealed significant differences in auditory measures and self-reported subjective hearing problems, while no differences in the cognitive domain were found. Furthermore, groupwise regression analyses revealed that Verbal intelligence had a predictive value in both groups, whereas Age and PTA only emerged significant in the group of hearing aid NU.

  13. Modification of sudden onset auditory ERP by involuntary attention to visual stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oray, Serkan; Lu, Zhong-Lin; Dawson, Michael E

    2002-03-01

    To investigate the cross-modal nature of the exogenous attention system, we studied how involuntary attention in the visual modality affects ERPs elicited by sudden onset of events in the auditory modality. Relatively loud auditory white noise bursts were presented to subjects with random and long inter-trial intervals. The noise bursts were either presented alone, or paired with a visual stimulus with a visual to auditory onset asynchrony of 120 ms. In a third condition, the visual stimuli were shown alone. All three conditions, auditory alone, visual alone, and paired visual/auditory, were randomly inter-mixed and presented with equal probabilities. Subjects were instructed to fixate on a point in front of them without task instructions concerning either the auditory or visual stimuli. ERPs were recorded from 28 scalp sites throughout every experimental session. Compared to ERPs in the auditory alone condition, pairing the auditory noise bursts with the visual stimulus reduced the amplitude of the auditory N100 component at Cz by 40% and the auditory P200/P300 component at Cz by 25%. No significant topographical change was observed in the scalp distributions of the N100 and P200/P300. Our results suggest that involuntary attention to visual stimuli suppresses early sensory (N100) as well as late cognitive (P200/P300) processing of sudden auditory events. The activation of the exogenous attention system by sudden auditory onset can be modified by involuntary visual attention in a cross-model, passive prepulse inhibition paradigm.

  14. Neuronal activity in primate auditory cortex during the performance of audiovisual tasks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brosch, Michael; Selezneva, Elena; Scheich, Henning

    2015-03-01

    This study aimed at a deeper understanding of which cognitive and motivational aspects of tasks affect auditory cortical activity. To this end we trained two macaque monkeys to perform two different tasks on the same audiovisual stimulus and to do this with two different sizes of water rewards. The monkeys had to touch a bar after a tone had been turned on together with an LED, and to hold the bar until either the tone (auditory task) or the LED (visual task) was turned off. In 399 multiunits recorded from core fields of auditory cortex we confirmed that during task engagement neurons responded to auditory and non-auditory stimuli that were task-relevant, such as light and water. We also confirmed that firing rates slowly increased or decreased for several seconds during various phases of the tasks. Responses to non-auditory stimuli and slow firing changes were observed during both the auditory and the visual task, with some differences between them. There was also a weak task-dependent modulation of the responses to auditory stimuli. In contrast to these cognitive aspects, motivational aspects of the tasks were not reflected in the firing, except during delivery of the water reward. In conclusion, the present study supports our previous proposal that there are two response types in the auditory cortex that represent the timing and the type of auditory and non-auditory elements of a auditory tasks as well the association between elements. © 2015 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. Effect of conductive hearing loss on central auditory function.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayat, Arash; Farhadi, Mohammad; Emamdjomeh, Hesam; Saki, Nader; Mirmomeni, Golshan; Rahim, Fakher

    It has been demonstrated that long-term Conductive Hearing Loss (CHL) may influence the precise detection of the temporal features of acoustic signals or Auditory Temporal Processing (ATP). It can be argued that ATP may be the underlying component of many central auditory processing capabilities such as speech comprehension or sound localization. Little is known about the consequences of CHL on temporal aspects of central auditory processing. This study was designed to assess auditory temporal processing ability in individuals with chronic CHL. During this analytical cross-sectional study, 52 patients with mild to moderate chronic CHL and 52 normal-hearing listeners (control), aged between 18 and 45 year-old, were recruited. In order to evaluate auditory temporal processing, the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) test was used. The results obtained for each ear were analyzed based on the gap perception threshold and the percentage of correct responses. The average of GIN thresholds was significantly smaller for the control group than for the CHL group for both ears (right: p=0.004; left: phearing for both sides (phearing loss in either group (p>0.05). The results suggest reduced auditory temporal processing ability in adults with CHL compared to normal hearing subjects. Therefore, developing a clinical protocol to evaluate auditory temporal processing in this population is recommended. Copyright © 2017 Associação Brasileira de Otorrinolaringologia e Cirurgia Cérvico-Facial. Published by Elsevier Editora Ltda. All rights reserved.

  16. Altered network hub connectivity after acute LSD administration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Felix Müller

    Full Text Available LSD is an ambiguous substance, said to mimic psychosis and to improve mental health in people suffering from anxiety and depression. Little is known about the neuronal correlates of altered states of consciousness induced by this substance. Limited previous studies indicated profound changes in functional connectivity of resting state networks after the administration of LSD. The current investigation attempts to replicate and extend those findings in an independent sample. In a double-blind, randomized, cross-over study, 100 μg LSD and placebo were orally administered to 20 healthy participants. Resting state brain activity was assessed by functional magnetic resonance imaging. Within-network and between-network connectivity measures of ten established resting state networks were compared between drug conditions. Complementary analysis were conducted using resting state networks as sources in seed-to-voxel analyses. Acute LSD administration significantly decreased functional connectivity within visual, sensorimotor and auditory networks and the default mode network. While between-network connectivity was widely increased and all investigated networks were affected to some extent, seed-to-voxel analyses consistently indicated increased connectivity between networks and subcortical (thalamus, striatum and cortical (precuneus, anterior cingulate cortex hub structures. These latter observations are consistent with findings on the importance of hubs in psychopathological states, especially in psychosis, and could underlay therapeutic effects of hallucinogens as proposed by a recent model. Keywords: LSD, fMRI, Functional connectivity, Networks, Hubs

  17. Neural Correlates of Auditory Processing, Learning and Memory Formation in Songbirds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pinaud, R.; Terleph, T. A.; Wynne, R. D.; Tremere, L. A.

    Songbirds have emerged as powerful experimental models for the study of auditory processing of complex natural communication signals. Intact hearing is necessary for several behaviors in developing and adult animals including vocal learning, territorial defense, mate selection and individual recognition. These behaviors are thought to require the processing, discrimination and memorization of songs. Although much is known about the brain circuits that participate in sensorimotor (auditory-vocal) integration, especially the ``song-control" system, less is known about the anatomical and functional organization of central auditory pathways. Here we discuss findings associated with a telencephalic auditory area known as the caudomedial nidopallium (NCM). NCM has attracted significant interest as it exhibits functional properties that may support higher order auditory functions such as stimulus discrimination and the formation of auditory memories. NCM neurons are vigorously dr iven by auditory stimuli. Interestingly, these responses are selective to conspecific, relative to heterospecific songs and artificial stimuli. In addition, forms of experience-dependent plasticity occur in NCM and are song-specific. Finally, recent experiments employing high-throughput quantitative proteomics suggest that complex protein regulatory pathways are engaged in NCM as a result of auditory experience. These molecular cascades are likely central to experience-associated plasticity of NCM circuitry and may be part of a network of calcium-driven molecular events that support the formation of auditory memory traces.

  18. Comparison of auditory and visual oddball fMRI in schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collier, Azurii K; Wolf, Daniel H; Valdez, Jeffrey N; Turetsky, Bruce I; Elliott, Mark A; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C

    2014-09-01

    Individuals with schizophrenia often suffer from attentional deficits, both in focusing on task-relevant targets and in inhibiting responses to distractors. Schizophrenia also has a differential impact on attention depending on modality: auditory or visual. However, it remains unclear how abnormal activation of attentional circuitry differs between auditory and visual modalities, as these two modalities have not been directly compared in the same individuals with schizophrenia. We utilized event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to compare patterns of brain activation during an auditory and visual oddball task in order to identify modality-specific attentional impairment. Healthy controls (n=22) and patients with schizophrenia (n=20) completed auditory and visual oddball tasks in separate sessions. For responses to targets, the auditory modality yielded greater activation than the visual modality (A-V) in auditory cortex, insula, and parietal operculum, but visual activation was greater than auditory (V-A) in visual cortex. For responses to novels, A-V differences were found in auditory cortex, insula, and supramarginal gyrus; and V-A differences in the visual cortex, inferior temporal gyrus, and superior parietal lobule. Group differences in modality-specific activation were found only for novel stimuli; controls showed larger A-V differences than patients in prefrontal cortex and the putamen. Furthermore, for patients, greater severity of negative symptoms was associated with greater divergence of A-V novel activation in the visual cortex. Our results demonstrate that patients have more pronounced activation abnormalities in auditory compared to visual attention, and link modality specific abnormalities to negative symptom severity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Auditory and visual sustained attention in Down syndrome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faught, Gayle G; Conners, Frances A; Himmelberger, Zachary M

    2016-01-01

    Sustained attention (SA) is important to task performance and development of higher functions. It emerges as a separable component of attention during preschool and shows incremental improvements during this stage of development. The current study investigated if auditory and visual SA match developmental level or are particular challenges for youth with DS. Further, we sought to determine if there were modality effects in SA that could predict those seen in short-term memory (STM). We compared youth with DS to typically developing youth matched for nonverbal mental age and receptive vocabulary. Groups completed auditory and visual sustained attention to response tests (SARTs) and STM tasks. Results indicated groups performed similarly on both SARTs, even over varying cognitive ability. Further, within groups participants performed similarly on auditory and visual SARTs, thus SA could not predict modality effects in STM. However, SA did generally predict a significant portion of unique variance in groups' STM. Ultimately, results suggested both auditory and visual SA match developmental level in DS. Further, SA generally predicts STM, though SA does not necessarily predict the pattern of poor auditory relative to visual STM characteristic of DS. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Increased Early Processing of Task-Irrelevant Auditory Stimuli in Older Adults.

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    Erich S Tusch

    Full Text Available The inhibitory deficit hypothesis of cognitive aging posits that older adults' inability to adequately suppress processing of irrelevant information is a major source of cognitive decline. Prior research has demonstrated that in response to task-irrelevant auditory stimuli there is an age-associated increase in the amplitude of the N1 wave, an ERP marker of early perceptual processing. Here, we tested predictions derived from the inhibitory deficit hypothesis that the age-related increase in N1 would be 1 observed under an auditory-ignore, but not auditory-attend condition, 2 attenuated in individuals with high executive capacity (EC, and 3 augmented by increasing cognitive load of the primary visual task. ERPs were measured in 114 well-matched young, middle-aged, young-old, and old-old adults, designated as having high or average EC based on neuropsychological testing. Under the auditory-ignore (visual-attend task, participants ignored auditory stimuli and responded to rare target letters under low and high load. Under the auditory-attend task, participants ignored visual stimuli and responded to rare target tones. Results confirmed an age-associated increase in N1 amplitude to auditory stimuli under the auditory-ignore but not auditory-attend task. Contrary to predictions, EC did not modulate the N1 response. The load effect was the opposite of expectation: the N1 to task-irrelevant auditory events was smaller under high load. Finally, older adults did not simply fail to suppress the N1 to auditory stimuli in the task-irrelevant modality; they generated a larger response than to identical stimuli in the task-relevant modality. In summary, several of the study's findings do not fit the inhibitory-deficit hypothesis of cognitive aging, which may need to be refined or supplemented by alternative accounts.

  1. Task-irrelevant auditory feedback facilitates motor performance in musicians

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Virginia eConde

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available An efficient and fast auditory–motor network is a basic resource for trained musicians due to the importance of motor anticipation of sound production in musical performance. When playing an instrument, motor performance always goes along with the production of sounds and the integration between both modalities plays an essential role in the course of musical training. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of task-irrelevant auditory feedback during motor performance in musicians using a serial reaction time task (SRTT. Our hypothesis was that musicians, due to their extensive auditory–motor practice routine during musical training, have a superior performance and learning capabilities when receiving auditory feedback during SRTT relative to musicians performing the SRTT without any auditory feedback. Here we provide novel evidence that task-irrelevant auditory feedback is capable to reinforce SRTT performance but not learning, a finding that might provide further insight into auditory-motor integration in musicians on a behavioral level.

  2. Neurofeedback in Learning Disabled Children: Visual versus Auditory Reinforcement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández, Thalía; Bosch-Bayard, Jorge; Harmony, Thalía; Caballero, María I; Díaz-Comas, Lourdes; Galán, Lídice; Ricardo-Garcell, Josefina; Aubert, Eduardo; Otero-Ojeda, Gloria

    2016-03-01

    Children with learning disabilities (LD) frequently have an EEG characterized by an excess of theta and a deficit of alpha activities. NFB using an auditory stimulus as reinforcer has proven to be a useful tool to treat LD children by positively reinforcing decreases of the theta/alpha ratio. The aim of the present study was to optimize the NFB procedure by comparing the efficacy of visual (with eyes open) versus auditory (with eyes closed) reinforcers. Twenty LD children with an abnormally high theta/alpha ratio were randomly assigned to the Auditory or the Visual group, where a 500 Hz tone or a visual stimulus (a white square), respectively, was used as a positive reinforcer when the value of the theta/alpha ratio was reduced. Both groups had signs consistent with EEG maturation, but only the Auditory Group showed behavioral/cognitive improvements. In conclusion, the auditory reinforcer was more efficacious in reducing the theta/alpha ratio, and it improved the cognitive abilities more than the visual reinforcer.

  3. Motor Training: Comparison of Visual and Auditory Coded Proprioceptive Cues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Philip Jepson

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Self-perception of body posture and movement is achieved through multi-sensory integration, particularly the utilisation of vision, and proprioceptive information derived from muscles and joints. Disruption to these processes can occur following a neurological accident, such as stroke, leading to sensory and physical impairment. Rehabilitation can be helped through use of augmented visual and auditory biofeedback to stimulate neuro-plasticity, but the effective design and application of feedback, particularly in the auditory domain, is non-trivial. Simple auditory feedback was tested by comparing the stepping accuracy of normal subjects when given a visual spatial target (step length and an auditory temporal target (step duration. A baseline measurement of step length and duration was taken using optical motion capture. Subjects (n=20 took 20 ‘training’ steps (baseline ±25% using either an auditory target (950 Hz tone, bell-shaped gain envelope or visual target (spot marked on the floor and were then asked to replicate the target step (length or duration corresponding to training with all feedback removed. Visual cues (mean percentage error=11.5%; SD ± 7.0%; auditory cues (mean percentage error = 12.9%; SD ± 11.8%. Visual cues elicit a high degree of accuracy both in training and follow-up un-cued tasks; despite the novelty of the auditory cues present for subjects, the mean accuracy of subjects approached that for visual cues, and initial results suggest a limited amount of practice using auditory cues can improve performance.

  4. Impact of Educational Level on Performance on Auditory Processing Tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murphy, Cristina F B; Rabelo, Camila M; Silagi, Marcela L; Mansur, Letícia L; Schochat, Eliane

    2016-01-01

    Research has demonstrated that a higher level of education is associated with better performance on cognitive tests among middle-aged and elderly people. However, the effects of education on auditory processing skills have not yet been evaluated. Previous demonstrations of sensory-cognitive interactions in the aging process indicate the potential importance of this topic. Therefore, the primary purpose of this study was to investigate the performance of middle-aged and elderly people with different levels of formal education on auditory processing tests. A total of 177 adults with no evidence of cognitive, psychological or neurological conditions took part in the research. The participants completed a series of auditory assessments, including dichotic digit, frequency pattern and speech-in-noise tests. A working memory test was also performed to investigate the extent to which auditory processing and cognitive performance were associated. The results demonstrated positive but weak correlations between years of schooling and performance on all of the tests applied. The factor "years of schooling" was also one of the best predictors of frequency pattern and speech-in-noise test performance. Additionally, performance on the working memory, frequency pattern and dichotic digit tests was also correlated, suggesting that the influence of educational level on auditory processing performance might be associated with the cognitive demand of the auditory processing tests rather than auditory sensory aspects itself. Longitudinal research is required to investigate the causal relationship between educational level and auditory processing skills.

  5. Normal time course of auditory recognition in schizophrenia, despite impaired precision of the auditory sensory ("echoic") memory code.

    Science.gov (United States)

    March, L; Cienfuegos, A; Goldbloom, L; Ritter, W; Cowan, N; Javitt, D C

    1999-02-01

    Prior studies have demonstrated impaired precision of processing within the auditory sensory memory (ASM) system in schizophrenia. This study used auditory backward masking to evaluate the degree to which such deficits resulted from impaired overall precision versus premature decay of information within the short-term auditory store. ASM performance was evaluated in 14 schizophrenic participants and 16 controls. Schizophrenic participants were severely impaired in their ability to match tones following delay. However, when no-mask performance was equated across participants, schizophrenic participants were no more susceptible to the effects of backward maskers than were controls. Thus, despite impaired precision of ASM performance, schizophrenic participants showed no deficits in the time course over which short-term representations could be used within the ASM system.

  6. A Time-Frequency Auditory Model Using Wavelet Packets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agerkvist, Finn

    1996-01-01

    A time-frequency auditory model is presented. The model uses the wavelet packet analysis as the preprocessor. The auditory filters are modelled by the rounded exponential filters, and the excitation is smoothed by a window function. By comparing time-frequency excitation patterns it is shown...... that the change in the time-frequency excitation pattern introduced when a test tone at masked threshold is added to the masker is approximately equal to 7 dB for all types of maskers. The classic detection ratio therefore overrates the detection efficiency of the auditory system....

  7. Auditory agnosia as a clinical symptom of childhood adrenoleukodystrophy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Furushima, Wakana; Kaga, Makiko; Nakamura, Masako; Gunji, Atsuko; Inagaki, Masumi

    2015-08-01

    To investigate detailed auditory features in patients with auditory impairment as the first clinical symptoms of childhood adrenoleukodystrophy (CSALD). Three patients who had hearing difficulty as the first clinical signs and/or symptoms of ALD. Precise examination of the clinical characteristics of hearing and auditory function was performed, including assessments of pure tone audiometry, verbal sound discrimination, otoacoustic emission (OAE), and auditory brainstem response (ABR), as well as an environmental sound discrimination test, a sound lateralization test, and a dichotic listening test (DLT). The auditory pathway was evaluated by MRI in each patient. Poor response to calling was detected in all patients. Two patients were not aware of their hearing difficulty, and had been diagnosed with normal hearing by otolaryngologists at first. Pure-tone audiometry disclosed normal hearing in all patients. All patients showed a normal wave V ABR threshold. Three patients showed obvious difficulty in discriminating verbal sounds, environmental sounds, and sound lateralization and strong left-ear suppression in a dichotic listening test. However, once they discriminated verbal sounds, they correctly understood the meaning. Two patients showed elongation of the I-V and III-V interwave intervals in ABR, but one showed no abnormality. MRIs of these three patients revealed signal changes in auditory radiation including in other subcortical areas. The hearing features of these subjects were diagnosed as auditory agnosia and not aphasia. It should be emphasized that when patients are suspected to have hearing impairment but have no abnormalities in pure tone audiometry and/or ABR, this should not be diagnosed immediately as psychogenic response or pathomimesis, but auditory agnosia must also be considered. Copyright © 2014 The Japanese Society of Child Neurology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  8. Presentation of dynamically overlapping auditory messages in user interfaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Papp, III, Albert Louis [Univ. of California, Davis, CA (United States)

    1997-09-01

    This dissertation describes a methodology and example implementation for the dynamic regulation of temporally overlapping auditory messages in computer-user interfaces. The regulation mechanism exists to schedule numerous overlapping auditory messages in such a way that each individual message remains perceptually distinct from all others. The method is based on the research conducted in the area of auditory scene analysis. While numerous applications have been engineered to present the user with temporally overlapped auditory output, they have generally been designed without any structured method of controlling the perceptual aspects of the sound. The method of scheduling temporally overlapping sounds has been extended to function in an environment where numerous applications can present sound independently of each other. The Centralized Audio Presentation System is a global regulation mechanism that controls all audio output requests made from all currently running applications. The notion of multimodal objects is explored in this system as well. Each audio request that represents a particular message can include numerous auditory representations, such as musical motives and voice. The Presentation System scheduling algorithm selects the best representation according to the current global auditory system state, and presents it to the user within the request constraints of priority and maximum acceptable latency. The perceptual conflicts between temporally overlapping audio messages are examined in depth through the Computational Auditory Scene Synthesizer. At the heart of this system is a heuristic-based auditory scene synthesis scheduling method. Different schedules of overlapped sounds are evaluated and assigned penalty scores. High scores represent presentations that include perceptual conflicts between over-lapping sounds. Low scores indicate fewer and less serious conflicts. A user study was conducted to validate that the perceptual difficulties predicted by

  9. [Communication and auditory behavior obtained by auditory evoked potentials in mammals, birds, amphibians, and reptiles].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arch-Tirado, Emilio; Collado-Corona, Miguel Angel; Morales-Martínez, José de Jesús

    2004-01-01

    amphibians, Frog catesbiana (frog bull, 30 animals); reptiles, Sceloporus torcuatus (common small lizard, 22 animals); birds: Columba livia (common dove, 20 animals), and mammals, Cavia porcellus, (guinea pig, 20 animals). With regard to lodging, all animals were maintained at the Institute of Human Communication Disorders, were fed with special food for each species, and had water available ad libitum. Regarding procedure, for carrying out analysis of auditory evoked potentials of brain stem SPL amphibians, birds, and mammals were anesthetized with ketamine 20, 25, and 50 mg/kg, by injection. Reptiles were anesthetized by freezing (6 degrees C). Study subjects had needle electrodes placed in an imaginary line on the half sagittal line between both ears and eyes, behind right ear, and behind left ear. Stimulation was carried out inside a no noise site by means of a horn in free field. The sign was filtered at between 100 and 3,000 Hz and analyzed in a computer for provoked potentials (Racia APE 78). In data shown by amphibians, wave-evoked responses showed greater latency than those of the other species. In reptiles, latency was observed as reduced in comparison with amphibians. In the case of birds, lesser latency values were observed, while in the case of guinea pigs latencies were greater than those of doves but they were stimulated by 10 dB, which demonstrated best auditory threshold in the four studied species. Last, it was corroborated that as the auditory threshold of each species it descends conforms to it advances in the phylogenetic scale. Beginning with these registrations, we care able to say that response for evoked brain stem potential showed to be more complex and lesser values of absolute latency as we advance along the phylogenetic scale; thus, the opposing auditory threshold is better agreement with regard to the phylogenetic scale among studied species. These data indicated to us that seeking of auditory information is more complex in more

  10. Neural oscillations in auditory working memory

    OpenAIRE

    Wilsch, A.

    2015-01-01

    The present thesis investigated memory load and memory decay in auditory working memory. Alpha power as a marker for memory load served as the primary indicator for load and decay fluctuations hypothetically reflecting functional inhibition of irrelevant information. Memory load was induced by presenting auditory signals (syllables and pure-tone sequences) in noise because speech-in-noise has been shown before to increase memory load. The aim of the thesis was to assess with magnetoencephalog...

  11. Changes in the Adult Vertebrate Auditory Sensory Epithelium After Trauma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oesterle, Elizabeth C.

    2012-01-01

    Auditory hair cells transduce sound vibrations into membrane potential changes, ultimately leading to changes in neuronal firing and sound perception. This review provides an overview of the characteristics and repair capabilities of traumatized auditory sensory epithelium in the adult vertebrate ear. Injured mammalian auditory epithelium repairs itself by forming permanent scars but is unable to regenerate replacement hair cells. In contrast, injured non-mammalian vertebrate ear generates replacement hair cells to restore hearing functions. Non-sensory support cells within the auditory epithelium play key roles in the repair processes. PMID:23178236

  12. Missing a trick: Auditory load modulates conscious awareness in audition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fairnie, Jake; Moore, Brian C J; Remington, Anna

    2016-07-01

    In the visual domain there is considerable evidence supporting the Load Theory of Attention and Cognitive Control, which holds that conscious perception of background stimuli depends on the level of perceptual load involved in a primary task. However, literature on the applicability of this theory to the auditory domain is limited and, in many cases, inconsistent. Here we present a novel "auditory search task" that allows systematic investigation of the impact of auditory load on auditory conscious perception. An array of simultaneous, spatially separated sounds was presented to participants. On half the trials, a critical stimulus was presented concurrently with the array. Participants were asked to detect which of 2 possible targets was present in the array (primary task), and whether the critical stimulus was present or absent (secondary task). Increasing the auditory load of the primary task (raising the number of sounds in the array) consistently reduced the ability to detect the critical stimulus. This indicates that, at least in certain situations, load theory applies in the auditory domain. The implications of this finding are discussed both with respect to our understanding of typical audition and for populations with altered auditory processing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  13. No counterpart of visual perceptual echoes in the auditory system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Barkın İlhan

    Full Text Available It has been previously demonstrated by our group that a visual stimulus made of dynamically changing luminance evokes an echo or reverberation at ~10 Hz, lasting up to a second. In this study we aimed to reveal whether similar echoes also exist in the auditory modality. A dynamically changing auditory stimulus equivalent to the visual stimulus was designed and employed in two separate series of experiments, and the presence of reverberations was analyzed based on reverse correlations between stimulus sequences and EEG epochs. The first experiment directly compared visual and auditory stimuli: while previous findings of ~10 Hz visual echoes were verified, no similar echo was found in the auditory modality regardless of frequency. In the second experiment, we tested if auditory sequences would influence the visual echoes when they were congruent or incongruent with the visual sequences. However, the results in that case similarly did not reveal any auditory echoes, nor any change in the characteristics of visual echoes as a function of audio-visual congruence. The negative findings from these experiments suggest that brain oscillations do not equivalently affect early sensory processes in the visual and auditory modalities, and that alpha (8-13 Hz oscillations play a special role in vision.

  14. The Study of Frequency Self Care Strategies against Auditory Hallucinations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mahin Nadem

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: In schizophrenic clients, self-care strategies against auditory hallucinations can decrease disturbances results in hallucination. This study was aimed to assess frequency of self-care strategies against auditory hallucinations in paranoid schizophrenic patients, hospitalized in Shafa Hospital.Materials and Method: This was a descriptive study on 201 patients with paranoid schizophrenia hospitalized in psychiatry unit with convenience sampling in Rasht. The gathered data consists of two parts, first unit demographic characteristic and the second part, self- report questionnaire include 38 items about self-care strategies.Results: There were statistically significant relationship between demographic variables and knowledg effect and self-care strategies against auditory hallucinaions. Sex with phisical domain p0.07, marriage status with cognitive domain (p>0.07 and life status with behavioural domain (p>0.01. 53.2% of reported type of our auditory hallucinations were command hallucinations, furtheremore the most effective self-care strategies against auditory hallucinations were from physical domain and substance abuse (82.1% was the most effective strategies in this domain.Conclusion: The client with paranoid schizophrenia used more than physical domain strategies against auditory hallucinaions and this result highlight need those to approprait nursing intervention. Instruction and leading about selection the effective self-care strategies against auditory ha

  15. A eficácia do treinamento auditivo formal em indivíduos com transtorno de processamento auditivo Formal auditory training efficacy in individuals with auditory processing disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatiane Eisencraft Zalcman

    2007-12-01

    Full Text Available OBJETIVO: Verificar a eficácia de um programa de Treinamento Auditivo comparando o desempenho inicial, nos testes comportamentais, com o desempenho após o treinamento auditivo aplicado em indivíduos com Transtorno de Processamento Auditivo. MÉTODOS: Participaram do estudo 30 sujeitos com idades entre oito e 16 anos, que passaram por uma avaliação comportamental inicial do processamento auditivo em que foram utilizados dois testes monóticos e dois dicóticos. Posteriormente foram submetidos a um programa de treinamento de auditivo durante oito semanas, a fim de reabilitar as habilidades auditivas encontradas alteradas na avaliação inicial do processamento auditivo e por fim passaram por uma nova avaliação comportamental do processamento auditivo. RESULTADOS: Após o treinamento auditivo houve melhora em todos os testes aplicados. No teste PSI, pré-treinamento auditivo, as crianças, as crianças tinham uma média de acerto de 66,8% que passou para 86,2% após o treinamento auditivo. No teste de fala com ruído, as crianças tinham uma média de acerto de 69,3% pré-treinamento auditivo que passou a ser 80,5% pós-treinamento auditivo. No teste DNV, a média de acerto pré-treinamento auditivo era de 72,6% e passou a ser 91,4%. Finalmente, no teste SSW a treinamento auditivo média de acerto era de 42,2% pré-treinamento auditivo e passou a ser 88,9% pós. CONCLUSÃO: O programa de treinamento auditivo utilizado foi eficaz na reabilitação das habilidades auditivas encontradas alteradas nas crianças com Transtorno de Processamento Auditivo.PURPOSE: To assess the effectiveness of the Auditory Training comparing the performance in the behavioral tests before and after auditory training in individuals with Auditory Processing Disorders. METHODS: Thirty individuals with ages ranging from eight to 16 years were submitted to an auditory processing evaluation, which consisted of two monotic and two dichotic tests. After that, the

  16. Neural Correlates of Realistic and Unrealistic Auditory Space Perception

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akiko Callan

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available Binaural recordings can simulate externalized auditory space perception over headphones. However, if the orientation of the recorder's head and the orientation of the listener's head are incongruent, the simulated auditory space is not realistic. For example, if a person lying flat on a bed listens to an environmental sound that was recorded by microphones inserted in ears of a person who was in an upright position, the sound simulates an auditory space rotated 90 degrees to the real-world horizontal axis. Our question is whether brain activation patterns are different between the unrealistic auditory space (ie, the orientation of the listener's head and the orientation of the recorder's head are incongruent and the realistic auditory space (ie, the orientations are congruent. River sounds that were binaurally recorded either in a supine position or in an upright body position were served as auditory stimuli. During fMRI experiments, participants listen to the stimuli and pressed one of two buttons indicating the direction of the water flow (horizontal/vertical. Behavioral results indicated that participants could not differentiate between the congruent and the incongruent conditions. However, neuroimaging results showed that the congruent condition activated the planum temporale significantly more than the incongruent condition.

  17. Auditory white noise reduces age-related fluctuations in balance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ross, J M; Will, O J; McGann, Z; Balasubramaniam, R

    2016-09-06

    Fall prevention technologies have the potential to improve the lives of older adults. Because of the multisensory nature of human balance control, sensory therapies, including some involving tactile and auditory noise, are being explored that might reduce increased balance variability due to typical age-related sensory declines. Auditory white noise has previously been shown to reduce postural sway variability in healthy young adults. In the present experiment, we examined this treatment in young adults and typically aging older adults. We measured postural sway of healthy young adults and adults over the age of 65 years during silence and auditory white noise, with and without vision. Our results show reduced postural sway variability in young and older adults with auditory noise, even in the absence of vision. We show that vision and noise can reduce sway variability for both feedback-based and exploratory balance processes. In addition, we show changes with auditory noise in nonlinear patterns of sway in older adults that reflect what is more typical of young adults, and these changes did not interfere with the typical random walk behavior of sway. Our results suggest that auditory noise might be valuable for therapeutic and rehabilitative purposes in older adults with typical age-related balance variability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Comparisons of memory for nonverbal auditory and visual sequential stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McFarland, D J; Cacace, A T

    1995-01-01

    Properties of auditory and visual sensory memory were compared by examining subjects' recognition performance of randomly generated binary auditory sequential frequency patterns and binary visual sequential color patterns within a forced-choice paradigm. Experiment 1 demonstrated serial-position effects in auditory and visual modalities consisting of both primacy and recency effects. Experiment 2 found that retention of auditory and visual information was remarkably similar when assessed across a 10s interval. Experiments 3 and 4, taken together, showed that the recency effect in sensory memory is affected more by the type of response required (recognition vs. reproduction) than by the sensory modality employed. These studies suggest that auditory and visual sensory memory stores for nonverbal stimuli share similar properties with respect to serial-position effects and persistence over time.

  19. Significance of bone changes at the meatus acusticus internus in tumours of the auditory nerve and in the 'empty' extended internal auditory meatus

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grehn, S.

    1988-06-01

    The unilateral extension of shortening of the internal auditory meatus is a very safe bony sign of the presence of a neurinoma of the auditory nerve. Differential diagnosis is necessary to exclude an 'empty' extended internal auditory meatus. On the other hand, 31% of the definitely established neurinomas do not show up in the plain tomogram. These facts prove that despite the presence or absence of allegedly definite bony changes at the internal auditory meatus further diagnostic measures are imperative, especially an air meatography in conjunction with high resolution computed tomography.

  20. From sensation to percept: the neural signature of auditory event-related potentials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Joos, Kathleen; Gilles, Annick; Van de Heyning, Paul; De Ridder, Dirk; Vanneste, Sven

    2014-05-01

    An external auditory stimulus induces an auditory sensation which may lead to a conscious auditory perception. Although the sensory aspect is well known, it is still a question how an auditory stimulus results in an individual's conscious percept. To unravel the uncertainties concerning the neural correlates of a conscious auditory percept, event-related potentials may serve as a useful tool. In the current review we mainly wanted to shed light on the perceptual aspects of auditory processing and therefore we mainly focused on the auditory late-latency responses. Moreover, there is increasing evidence that perception is an active process in which the brain searches for the information it expects to be present, suggesting that auditory perception requires the presence of both bottom-up, i.e. sensory and top-down, i.e. prediction-driven processing. Therefore, the auditory evoked potentials will be interpreted in the context of the Bayesian brain model, in which the brain predicts which information it expects and when this will happen. The internal representation of the auditory environment will be verified by sensation samples of the environment (P50, N100). When this incoming information violates the expectation, it will induce the emission of a prediction error signal (Mismatch Negativity), activating higher-order neural networks and inducing the update of prior internal representations of the environment (P300). Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Auditory evacuation beacons

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wijngaarden, S.J. van; Bronkhorst, A.W.; Boer, L.C.

    2005-01-01

    Auditory evacuation beacons can be used to guide people to safe exits, even when vision is totally obscured by smoke. Conventional beacons make use of modulated noise signals. Controlled evacuation experiments show that such signals require explicit instructions and are often misunderstood. A new

  2. Depth-Dependent Temporal Response Properties in Core Auditory Cortex

    OpenAIRE

    Christianson, G. Björn; Sahani, Maneesh; Linden, Jennifer F.

    2011-01-01

    The computational role of cortical layers within auditory cortex has proven difficult to establish. One hypothesis is that interlaminar cortical processing might be dedicated to analyzing temporal properties of sounds; if so, then there should be systematic depth-dependent changes in cortical sensitivity to the temporal context in which a stimulus occurs. We recorded neural responses simultaneously across cortical depth in primary auditory cortex and anterior auditory field of CBA/Ca mice, an...

  3. Gymnasts utilize visual and auditory information for behavioural synchronization in trampolining.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinen, T; Koschnick, J; Schmidt-Maaß, D; Vinken, P M

    2014-08-01

    In synchronized trampolining, two gymnasts perform the same routine at the same time. While trained gymnasts are thought to coordinate their own movements with the movements of another gymnast by detecting relevant movement information, the question arises how visual and auditory information contribute to the emergence of synchronicity between both gymnasts. Therefore the aim of this study was to examine the role of visual and auditory information in the emergence of coordinated behaviour in synchronized trampolining. Twenty female gymnasts were asked to synchronize their leaps with the leaps of a model gymnast, while visual and auditory information was manipulated. The results revealed that gymnasts needed more leaps to reach synchronicity when only either auditory (12.9 leaps) or visual information (10.8 leaps) was available, as compared to when both auditory and visual information was available (8.1 leaps). It is concluded that visual and auditory information play significant roles in synchronized trampolining, whilst visual information seems to be the dominant source for emerging behavioural synchronization, and auditory information supports this emergence.

  4. Synchronization with competing visual and auditory rhythms: bouncing ball meets metronome.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hove, Michael J; Iversen, John R; Zhang, Allen; Repp, Bruno H

    2013-07-01

    Synchronization of finger taps with periodically flashing visual stimuli is known to be much more variable than synchronization with an auditory metronome. When one of these rhythms is the synchronization target and the other serves as a distracter at various temporal offsets, strong auditory dominance is observed. However, it has recently been shown that visuomotor synchronization improves substantially with moving stimuli such as a continuously bouncing ball. The present study pitted a bouncing ball against an auditory metronome in a target-distracter synchronization paradigm, with the participants being auditory experts (musicians) and visual experts (video gamers and ball players). Synchronization was still less variable with auditory than with visual target stimuli in both groups. For musicians, auditory stimuli tended to be more distracting than visual stimuli, whereas the opposite was the case for the visual experts. Overall, there was no main effect of distracter modality. Thus, a distracting spatiotemporal visual rhythm can be as effective as a distracting auditory rhythm in its capacity to perturb synchronous movement, but its effectiveness also depends on modality-specific expertise.

  5. Multiple time scales of adaptation in auditory cortex neurons.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ulanovsky, Nachum; Las, Liora; Farkas, Dina; Nelken, Israel

    2004-11-17

    Neurons in primary auditory cortex (A1) of cats show strong stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA). In probabilistic settings, in which one stimulus is common and another is rare, responses to common sounds adapt more strongly than responses to rare sounds. This SSA could be a correlate of auditory sensory memory at the level of single A1 neurons. Here we studied adaptation in A1 neurons, using three different probabilistic designs. We showed that SSA has several time scales concurrently, spanning many orders of magnitude, from hundreds of milliseconds to tens of seconds. Similar time scales are known for the auditory memory span of humans, as measured both psychophysically and using evoked potentials. A simple model, with linear dependence on both short-term and long-term stimulus history, provided a good fit to A1 responses. Auditory thalamus neurons did not show SSA, and their responses were poorly fitted by the same model. In addition, SSA increased the proportion of failures in the responses of A1 neurons to the adapting stimulus. Finally, SSA caused a bias in the neuronal responses to unbiased stimuli, enhancing the responses to eccentric stimuli. Therefore, we propose that a major function of SSA in A1 neurons is to encode auditory sensory memory on multiple time scales. This SSA might play a role in stream segregation and in binding of auditory objects over many time scales, a property that is crucial for processing of natural auditory scenes in cats and of speech and music in humans.

  6. Translation and adaptation of functional auditory performance indicators (FAPI

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Ferreira

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available Work with deaf children has gained new attention since the expectation and goal of therapy has expanded to language development and subsequent language learning. Many clinical tests were developed for evaluation of speech sound perception in young children in response to the need for accurate assessment of hearing skills that developed from the use of individual hearing aids or cochlear implants. These tests also allow the evaluation of the rehabilitation program. However, few of these tests are available in Portuguese. Evaluation with the Functional Auditory Performance Indicators (FAPI generates a child's functional auditory skills profile, which lists auditory skills in an integrated and hierarchical order. It has seven hierarchical categories, including sound awareness, meaningful sound, auditory feedback, sound source localizing, auditory discrimination, short-term auditory memory, and linguistic auditory processing. FAPI evaluation allows the therapist to map the child's hearing profile performance, determine the target for increasing the hearing abilities, and develop an effective therapeutic plan. Objective: Since the FAPI is an American test, the inventory was adapted for application in the Brazilian population. Material and Methods: The translation was done following the steps of translation and back translation, and reproducibility was evaluated. Four translated versions (two originals and two back-translated were compared, and revisions were done to ensure language adaptation and grammatical and idiomatic equivalence. Results: The inventory was duly translated and adapted. Conclusion: Further studies about the application of the translated FAPI are necessary to make the test practicable in Brazilian clinical use.

  7. Motor-related signals in the auditory system for listening and learning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, David M; Mooney, Richard

    2015-08-01

    In the auditory system, corollary discharge signals are theorized to facilitate normal hearing and the learning of acoustic behaviors, including speech and music. Despite clear evidence of corollary discharge signals in the auditory cortex and their presumed importance for hearing and auditory-guided motor learning, the circuitry and function of corollary discharge signals in the auditory cortex are not well described. In this review, we focus on recent developments in the mouse and songbird that provide insights into the circuitry that transmits corollary discharge signals to the auditory system and the function of these signals in the context of hearing and vocal learning. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. In search of an auditory engram

    OpenAIRE

    Fritz, Jonathan; Mishkin, Mortimer; Saunders, Richard C.

    2005-01-01

    Monkeys trained preoperatively on a task designed to assess auditory recognition memory were impaired after removal of either the rostral superior temporal gyrus or the medial temporal lobe but were unaffected by lesions of the rhinal cortex. Behavioral analysis indicated that this result occurred because the monkeys did not or could not use long-term auditory recognition, and so depended instead on short-term working memory, which is unaffected by rhinal lesions. The findings suggest that mo...

  9. The Role of Auditory Cues in the Spatial Knowledge of Blind Individuals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papadopoulos, Konstantinos; Papadimitriou, Kimon; Koutsoklenis, Athanasios

    2012-01-01

    The study presented here sought to explore the role of auditory cues in the spatial knowledge of blind individuals by examining the relation between the perceived auditory cues and the landscape of a given area and by investigating how blind individuals use auditory cues to create cognitive maps. The findings reveal that several auditory cues…

  10. Auditory interfaces in automated driving: an international survey

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bazilinskyy, P.; de Winter, J.C.F.

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated peoples’ opinion on auditory interfaces in contemporary
    cars and their willingness to be exposed to auditory feedback in automated driving. We used an Internet-based survey to collect 1,205 responses from 91 countries. The respondents stated their attitudes towards two

  11. Basic Auditory Processing and Developmental Dyslexia in Chinese

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Hsiao-Lan Sharon; Huss, Martina; Hamalainen, Jarmo A.; Goswami, Usha

    2012-01-01

    The present study explores the relationship between basic auditory processing of sound rise time, frequency, duration and intensity, phonological skills (onset-rime and tone awareness, sound blending, RAN, and phonological memory) and reading disability in Chinese. A series of psychometric, literacy, phonological, auditory, and character…

  12. Entrainment to an auditory signal: Is attention involved?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kunert, R.; Jongman, S.R.

    2017-01-01

    Many natural auditory signals, including music and language, change periodically. The effect of such auditory rhythms on the brain is unclear however. One widely held view, dynamic attending theory, proposes that the attentional system entrains to the rhythm and increases attention at moments of

  13. Trait aspects of auditory mismatch negativity predict response to auditory training in individuals with early illness schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biagianti, Bruno; Roach, Brian J; Fisher, Melissa; Loewy, Rachel; Ford, Judith M; Vinogradov, Sophia; Mathalon, Daniel H

    2017-01-01

    Individuals with schizophrenia have heterogeneous impairments of the auditory processing system that likely mediate differences in the cognitive gains induced by auditory training (AT). Mismatch negativity (MMN) is an event-related potential component reflecting auditory echoic memory, and its amplitude reduction in schizophrenia has been linked to cognitive deficits. Therefore, MMN may predict response to AT and identify individuals with schizophrenia who have the most to gain from AT. Furthermore, to the extent that AT strengthens auditory deviance processing, MMN may also serve as a readout of the underlying changes in the auditory system induced by AT. Fifty-six individuals early in the course of a schizophrenia-spectrum illness (ESZ) were randomly assigned to 40 h of AT or Computer Games (CG). Cognitive assessments and EEG recordings during a multi-deviant MMN paradigm were obtained before and after AT and CG. Changes in these measures were compared between the treatment groups. Baseline and trait-like MMN data were evaluated as predictors of treatment response. MMN data collected with the same paradigm from a sample of Healthy Controls (HC; n = 105) were compared to baseline MMN data from the ESZ group. Compared to HC, ESZ individuals showed significant MMN reductions at baseline ( p = .003). Reduced Double-Deviant MMN was associated with greater general cognitive impairment in ESZ individuals ( p = .020). Neither ESZ intervention group showed significant change in MMN. We found high correlations in all MMN deviant types (rs = .59-.68, all ps < .001) between baseline and post-intervention amplitudes irrespective of treatment group, suggesting trait-like stability of the MMN signal. Greater deficits in trait-like Double-Deviant MMN predicted greater cognitive improvements in the AT group ( p = .02), but not in the CG group. In this sample of ESZ individuals, AT had no effect on auditory deviance processing as assessed by MMN. In ESZ individuals, baseline MMN

  14. Peripheral Auditory Mechanisms

    CERN Document Server

    Hall, J; Hubbard, A; Neely, S; Tubis, A

    1986-01-01

    How weIl can we model experimental observations of the peripheral auditory system'? What theoretical predictions can we make that might be tested'? It was with these questions in mind that we organized the 1985 Mechanics of Hearing Workshop, to bring together auditory researchers to compare models with experimental observations. Tbe workshop forum was inspired by the very successful 1983 Mechanics of Hearing Workshop in Delft [1]. Boston University was chosen as the site of our meeting because of the Boston area's role as a center for hearing research in this country. We made a special effort at this meeting to attract students from around the world, because without students this field will not progress. Financial support for the workshop was provided in part by grant BNS- 8412878 from the National Science Foundation. Modeling is a traditional strategy in science and plays an important role in the scientific method. Models are the bridge between theory and experiment. Tbey test the assumptions made in experim...

  15. Auditory comprehension: from the voice up to the single word level

    OpenAIRE

    Jones, Anna Barbara

    2016-01-01

    Auditory comprehension, the ability to understand spoken language, consists of a number of different auditory processing skills. In the five studies presented in this thesis I investigated both intact and impaired auditory comprehension at different levels: voice versus phoneme perception, as well as single word auditory comprehension in terms of phonemic and semantic content. In the first study, using sounds from different continua of ‘male’-/pæ/ to ‘female’-/tæ/ and ‘male’...

  16. Auditory beat stimulation and its effects on cognition and mood states

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Leila eChaieb

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Auditory beat stimulation may be a promising new tool for the manipulation of cognitive processes and the modulation of mood-states. Here we aim to review the literature examining the most current applications of auditory beat stimulation and its targets. We give a brief overview of research on auditory steady-state responses and its relationship to auditory beat stimulation. We have summarized relevant studies investigating the neurophysiological changes related to auditory beat stimulation and how they impact upon the design of appropriate stimulation protocols. Focusing on binaural beat stimulation, we then discuss the role of monaural and binaural beat frequencies in cognition and mood-states, in addition to their efficacy in targeting disease symptoms. We aim to highlight important points concerning stimulation parameters and try to address why there are often contradictory findings with regard to the outcomes of auditory beat stimulation.

  17. Category-specific responses to faces and objects in primate auditory cortex

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kari L Hoffman

    2008-03-01

    Full Text Available Auditory and visual signals often occur together, and the two sensory channels are known to infl uence each other to facilitate perception. The neural basis of this integration is not well understood, although other forms of multisensory infl uences have been shown to occur at surprisingly early stages of processing in cortex. Primary visual cortex neurons can show frequency-tuning to auditory stimuli, and auditory cortex responds selectively to certain somatosensory stimuli, supporting the possibility that complex visual signals may modulate early stages of auditory processing. To elucidate which auditory regions, if any, are responsive to complex visual stimuli, we recorded from auditory cortex and the superior temporal sulcus while presenting visual stimuli consisting of various objects, neutral faces, and facial expressions generated during vocalization. Both objects and conspecifi c faces elicited robust fi eld potential responses in auditory cortex sites, but the responses varied by category: both neutral and vocalizing faces had a highly consistent negative component (N100 followed by a broader positive component (P180 whereas object responses were more variable in time and shape, but could be discriminated consistently from the responses to faces. The face response did not vary within the face category, i.e., for expressive vs. neutral face stimuli. The presence of responses for both objects and neutral faces suggests that auditory cortex receives highly informative visual input that is not restricted to those stimuli associated with auditory components. These results reveal selectivity for complex visual stimuli in a brain region conventionally described as non-visual unisensory cortex.

  18. Auditory Processing Testing: In the Booth versus Outside the Booth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lucker, Jay R

    2017-09-01

    Many audiologists believe that auditory processing testing must be carried out in a soundproof booth. This expectation is especially a problem in places such as elementary schools. Research comparing pure-tone thresholds obtained in sound booths compared to quiet test environments outside of these booths does not support that belief. Auditory processing testing is generally carried out at above threshold levels, and therefore may be even less likely to require a soundproof booth. The present study was carried out to compare test results in soundproof booths versus quiet rooms. The purpose of this study was to determine whether auditory processing tests can be administered in a quiet test room rather than in the soundproof test suite. The outcomes would identify that audiologists can provide auditory processing testing for children under various test conditions including quiet rooms at their school. A battery of auditory processing tests was administered at a test level equivalent to 50 dB HL through headphones. The same equipment was used for testing in both locations. Twenty participants identified with normal hearing were included in this study, ten having no auditory processing concerns and ten exhibiting auditory processing problems. All participants underwent a battery of tests, both inside the test booth and outside the booth in a quiet room. Order of testing (inside versus outside) was counterbalanced. Participants were first determined to have normal hearing thresholds for tones and speech. Auditory processing tests were recorded and presented from an HP EliteBook laptop computer with noise-canceling headphones attached to a y-cord that not only presented the test stimuli to the participants but also allowed monitor headphones to be worn by the evaluator. The same equipment was used inside as well as outside the booth. No differences were found for each auditory processing measure as a function of the test setting or the order in which testing was done

  19. Temporal factors affecting somatosensory-auditory interactions in speech processing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takayuki eIto

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Speech perception is known to rely on both auditory and visual information. However, sound specific somatosensory input has been shown also to influence speech perceptual processing (Ito et al., 2009. In the present study we addressed further the relationship between somatosensory information and speech perceptual processing by addressing the hypothesis that the temporal relationship between orofacial movement and sound processing contributes to somatosensory-auditory interaction in speech perception. We examined the changes in event-related potentials in response to multisensory synchronous (simultaneous and asynchronous (90 ms lag and lead somatosensory and auditory stimulation compared to individual unisensory auditory and somatosensory stimulation alone. We used a robotic device to apply facial skin somatosensory deformations that were similar in timing and duration to those experienced in speech production. Following synchronous multisensory stimulation the amplitude of the event-related potential was reliably different from the two unisensory potentials. More importantly, the magnitude of the event-related potential difference varied as a function of the relative timing of the somatosensory-auditory stimulation. Event-related activity change due to stimulus timing was seen between 160-220 ms following somatosensory onset, mostly around the parietal area. The results demonstrate a dynamic modulation of somatosensory-auditory convergence and suggest the contribution of somatosensory information for speech processing process is dependent on the specific temporal order of sensory inputs in speech production.

  20. Primate auditory recognition memory performance varies with sound type.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ng, Chi-Wing; Plakke, Bethany; Poremba, Amy

    2009-10-01

    Neural correlates of auditory processing, including for species-specific vocalizations that convey biological and ethological significance (e.g., social status, kinship, environment), have been identified in a wide variety of areas including the temporal and frontal cortices. However, few studies elucidate how non-human primates interact with these vocalization signals when they are challenged by tasks requiring auditory discrimination, recognition and/or memory. The present study employs a delayed matching-to-sample task with auditory stimuli to examine auditory memory performance of rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta), wherein two sounds are determined to be the same or different. Rhesus macaques seem to have relatively poor short-term memory with auditory stimuli, and we examine if particular sound types are more favorable for memory performance. Experiment 1 suggests memory performance with vocalization sound types (particularly monkey), are significantly better than when using non-vocalization sound types, and male monkeys outperform female monkeys overall. Experiment 2, controlling for number of sound exemplars and presentation pairings across types, replicates Experiment 1, demonstrating better performance or decreased response latencies, depending on trial type, to species-specific monkey vocalizations. The findings cannot be explained by acoustic differences between monkey vocalizations and the other sound types, suggesting the biological, and/or ethological meaning of these sounds are more effective for auditory memory. 2009 Elsevier B.V.