Speech Perception Triggers Articulatory Action: Evidence From Mechanical Stimulation

Frontiers in Communication

Evan Balaban²  Peter J. Fried³  Iris Berent⁵  Melanie Platt⁵  Rachel Theodore⁶  Alvaro Pascual-Leone⁷ 

[1] Berenson-Allen Center for Noninvasive Brain Stimulation, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States;Departamento de Bioingeniería e Ingeniería Aeroespacial, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Getafe, Spain;Department of Neurology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Neurology, Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research and Center for Memory Health, Hebrew SeniorLife, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA, United States;Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, University of Connecticut, Mansfield, MA, United States;Guttmann Brain Health Institute, Institut Guttmann de Neurorehabilitació, Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain;

关键词: speech perception;    embodiment;    motor simulation;    phonetic categorization;    voicing;    TMS;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fcomm.2020.00034

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Neuroimaging studies show that the brain articulatory motor system is activated during speech perception. These results, however, cannot determine whether the motor system is engaged in motor simulation (e.g., lip movement) or in non-motor computations. To gauge the causal role of the articulatory motor system, here we examine the effect of mechanical stimulation. Participants heard speech tokens, ambiguous with respect to voicing—either labial (ba/pa) or coronal (da/ta)—while lightly biting on either the lips or tongue. Compared to incongruent stimulation (e.g., lips, with da/ta), congruent stimulation (e.g., tongue, with da/ta) shifted the voicing percepts, and improved discrimination sensitivity (d'). These results demonstrate that adults engage the articulatory motor system in speech perception even when it is irrelevant to response. The convergence with transcranial magnetic stimulation experiments suggests that speech perception engages articulatory action. These conclusions illuminate the links between embodiment and cognition.

【 授权许可】

Unknown