IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v14y2023i1d10.1038_s41467-023-39872-w.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Phonemic segmentation of narrative speech in human cerebral cortex

Author

Listed:
  • Xue L. Gong

    (University of California, Berkeley)

  • Alexander G. Huth

    (University of Texas, Austin)

  • Fatma Deniz

    (Technische Universität Berlin)

  • Keith Johnson

    (University of California, Berkeley)

  • Jack L. Gallant

    (University of California, Berkeley
    University of California, Berkeley)

  • Frédéric E. Theunissen

    (University of California, Berkeley
    University of California, Berkeley
    University of California, Berkeley)

Abstract

Speech processing requires extracting meaning from acoustic patterns using a set of intermediate representations based on a dynamic segmentation of the speech stream. Using whole brain mapping obtained in fMRI, we investigate the locus of cortical phonemic processing not only for single phonemes but also for short combinations made of diphones and triphones. We find that phonemic processing areas are much larger than previously described: they include not only the classical areas in the dorsal superior temporal gyrus but also a larger region in the lateral temporal cortex where diphone features are best represented. These identified phonemic regions overlap with the lexical retrieval region, but we show that short word retrieval is not sufficient to explain the observed responses to diphones. Behavioral studies have shown that phonemic processing and lexical retrieval are intertwined. Here, we also have identified candidate regions within the speech cortical network where this joint processing occurs.

Suggested Citation

  • Xue L. Gong & Alexander G. Huth & Fatma Deniz & Keith Johnson & Jack L. Gallant & Frédéric E. Theunissen, 2023. "Phonemic segmentation of narrative speech in human cerebral cortex," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-39872-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-39872-w
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39872-w
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-023-39872-w?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Alexander G. Huth & Wendy A. de Heer & Thomas L. Griffiths & Frédéric E. Theunissen & Jack L. Gallant, 2016. "Natural speech reveals the semantic maps that tile human cerebral cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 532(7600), pages 453-458, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chandan Singh & Armin Askari & Rich Caruana & Jianfeng Gao, 2023. "Augmenting interpretable models with large language models during training," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-11, December.
    2. Lorenza Lucchi Basili & Pier Luigi Sacco, 2017. "Tie-Up Cycles in Long-Term Mating. Part II: Fictional Narratives and the Social Cognition of Mating," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-60, February.
    3. Desjardins, Christoph, 2021. "Don't be too SMART, but SAVE your goals: Proposal for a renewed goal-setting formula for Generation Y," Journal of Applied Leadership and Management, Hochschule Kempten - University of Applied Sciences, Professional School of Business & Technology, vol. 9, pages 73-87.
    4. Maryam Honari-Jahromi & Brea Chouinard & Esti Blanco-Elorrieta & Liina Pylkkänen & Alona Fyshe, 2021. "Neural representation of words within phrases: Temporal evolution of color-adjectives and object-nouns during simple composition," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(3), pages 1-17, March.
    5. David M Alexander & Tonio Ball & Andreas Schulze-Bonhage & Cees van Leeuwen, 2019. "Large-scale cortical travelling waves predict localized future cortical signals," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 15(11), pages 1-34, November.
    6. Ariel Goldstein & Avigail Grinstein-Dabush & Mariano Schain & Haocheng Wang & Zhuoqiao Hong & Bobbi Aubrey & Mariano Schain & Samuel A. Nastase & Zaid Zada & Eric Ham & Amir Feder & Harshvardhan Gazul, 2024. "Alignment of brain embeddings and artificial contextual embeddings in natural language points to common geometric patterns," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-12, December.
    7. Jörn Diedrichsen & Nikolaus Kriegeskorte, 2017. "Representational models: A common framework for understanding encoding, pattern-component, and representational-similarity analysis," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(4), pages 1-33, April.
    8. Katherine Farrow & Gilles Grolleau & Naoufel Mzoughi, 2018. "What in the Word! The Scope for the Effect of Word Choice on Economic Behavior," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(4), pages 557-580, November.
    9. Sam V Norman-Haignere & Josh H McDermott, 2018. "Neural responses to natural and model-matched stimuli reveal distinct computations in primary and nonprimary auditory cortex," PLOS Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(12), pages 1-46, December.
    10. Keiko Ohmae & Shogo Ohmae, 2024. "Emergence of syntax and word prediction in an artificial neural circuit of the cerebellum," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-13, December.
    11. Timothy N Rubin & Oluwasanmi Koyejo & Krzysztof J Gorgolewski & Michael N Jones & Russell A Poldrack & Tal Yarkoni, 2017. "Decoding brain activity using a large-scale probabilistic functional-anatomical atlas of human cognition," PLOS Computational Biology, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-24, October.
    12. Francesca Setti & Giacomo Handjaras & Davide Bottari & Andrea Leo & Matteo Diano & Valentina Bruno & Carla Tinti & Luca Cecchetti & Francesca Garbarini & Pietro Pietrini & Emiliano Ricciardi, 2023. "A modality-independent proto-organization of human multisensory areas," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(3), pages 397-410, March.
    13. Charlotte Caucheteux & Alexandre Gramfort & Jean-Rémi King, 2023. "Evidence of a predictive coding hierarchy in the human brain listening to speech," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(3), pages 430-441, March.
    14. Zsuzsanna Kocsis & Rick L. Jenison & Peter N. Taylor & Ryan M. Calmus & Bob McMurray & Ariane E. Rhone & McCall E. Sarrett & Carolina Deifelt Streese & Yukiko Kikuchi & Phillip E. Gander & Joel I. Ber, 2023. "Immediate neural impact and incomplete compensation after semantic hub disconnection," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-17, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:14:y:2023:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-023-39872-w. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.