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Neural and behavioral correlates of song prosody
Title
Neural and behavioral correlates of song prosody.
Creator
Gordon, Reyna Leigh., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Abstract/Description
This dissertation studies the neural basis of song, a universal human behavior. The relationship of words and melodies in the perception of song at phonological, semantic, melodic, and rhythmic levels of processing was investigated using the fine temporal resolution of Electroencephalography (EEG). The observations reported here may shed light on a ubiquitous human experience and also inform the discussion of whether language and music share neural resources or recruit domain-specific neural...
Show moreThis dissertation studies the neural basis of song, a universal human behavior. The relationship of words and melodies in the perception of song at phonological, semantic, melodic, and rhythmic levels of processing was investigated using the fine temporal resolution of Electroencephalography (EEG). The observations reported here may shed light on a ubiquitous human experience and also inform the discussion of whether language and music share neural resources or recruit domain-specific neural mechanisms. Experiment 1 was designed to determine whether words and melody in song are processed interactively or independently. Participants listened to sung words in which the melodies and/or the words were similar or different, and performed a same/different task while attending to the linguistic and musical dimensions in separate blocks of trials. Event-Related Potentials and behavioral data converged in showing interactive processing between the linguistic and musical dimensions of sung words, regardless of the direction of attention. In particular, the N400 component, a well-established marker of semantic processing, was modulated by musical melody. The observation that variations in musical features affect lexico-semantic processing in sung language was a novel finding with implications for shared neural resources between language and music. Experiment 2 was designed to explore the idea that well-aligned text-settings, in which the strong syllables occur on strong beats, capture listeners' attention and help them understand song lyrics. EEG was recorded while participants listened to sung sentences whose linguistic stress patterns were well-aligned, misaligned, or had variable alignment with the musical meter, and performed a lexical decision task on subsequently presented visual targets., Results showed that induced beta and evoked gamma power were modulated differently for well-aligned and misaligned syllables, and that task performance was adversely affected when visual targets followed misaligned and varied sentences. These findings suggest that alignment of linguistic stress and musical meter in song enhance beat tracking and linguistic segmentation by entraining periodic fluctuations in high frequency brain activity to the stimuli. A series of follow-up studies has been outlined to further investigate the relationship between rhythmic attending in speech and music, and the influence of metrical alignment in songs on childhood language acquisition.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2705078
Subject Headings
Cognitive neuroscience, Learning, Physiological aspects, Cognition in children, Physiological aspects, Prosodic analysis (Linguistics)
Format
Document (PDF)
study of the development of the relationship between neuroscience and education
Title
The study of the development of the relationship between neuroscience and education.
Creator
Fazio, Susan Kopp., Florida Atlantic University, Burrichter, Arthur W.
Abstract/Description
The basis for this study has been to explore the developing relationship between the neurosciences and education. The methodology for this investigation was to collect the neuroscientific research literature on brain function. This study found that mapping of brain functions was determined by internal means (split-brain surgery, autopsy findings, blood flow experiments, barbiturate injections, and brain damage) as well as external means (electroencephalographic tests, visual fields...
Show moreThe basis for this study has been to explore the developing relationship between the neurosciences and education. The methodology for this investigation was to collect the neuroscientific research literature on brain function. This study found that mapping of brain functions was determined by internal means (split-brain surgery, autopsy findings, blood flow experiments, barbiturate injections, and brain damage) as well as external means (electroencephalographic tests, visual fields observations, facial recognition, tactual perception, dichotic listening, and lateral eye movement). The hypotheses on the brain functions (brain growth periodization, triune brain theory, Piaget and hemispheric asymmetries, and sex differences of the brain) provided the theoretical foundation for interpreting the neuroscientific evidence. To further expand the knowledge base on how the brain actually works, research on neural networks, memory, emotion, and chemistry were also included as they contributed to the relationship between the neurosciences and education. The Your Style of Thinking and Learning Inventory (YSOLAT) and the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) were presented as well. The study then introduced the educational interpretations of that literature. Recommendations for further research studying the relationship was then included. Educational implications and applications conclude this study.
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Date Issued
1989
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12244
Subject Headings
Brain--Localization of functions, Learning--Physiological aspects
Format
Document (PDF)
Brain dynamics and behavioral basis of a higher level cognitive task
Title
Brain dynamics and behavioral basis of a higher level cognitive task: number comparison.
Creator
Ballan, Meltem., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Center for Complex Systems and Brain Sciences
Abstract/Description
Number perception, its neural basis and its relationship to how numerical stimuli are presented have been challenging research topics in cognitive neuroscience for many years. A primary question that has been addressed is whether the perception of the quantity of a visually presented number stimulus is dissociable from its early visual perception. The present study examined the possible influence of visual quality judgment on quantity judgments of numbers. To address this issue, volunteer...
Show moreNumber perception, its neural basis and its relationship to how numerical stimuli are presented have been challenging research topics in cognitive neuroscience for many years. A primary question that has been addressed is whether the perception of the quantity of a visually presented number stimulus is dissociable from its early visual perception. The present study examined the possible influence of visual quality judgment on quantity judgments of numbers. To address this issue, volunteer adult subjects performed a mental number comparison task in which two-digit stimulus numbers (Arabic number format), among the numbers between 31 and 99 were mentally compared to a memorized reference number, 65. Reaction times (RTs) and neurophysiological (i.e. electroencephalographic (EEG) data) responses were acquired simultaneously during performance of the two-digit number comparison task. In this particular quantity comparison task, the number stimuli were classified into three distance factors. That is, numbers were a close, medium or far distance from the reference number (i.e., 65). In order to evaluate the relationship between numerical stimulus quantity and quality, the number stimuli were embedded in varying degrees of a typical visual noise form, known as "salt and pepper noise" (e.g., the visual noise one perceives when viewing a photograph taken with a dusty camera lens). In this manner, the visual noise permitted visual quality to be manipulated across three levels: no noise, medium noise (approximately 60% degraded visual quality from nonoise), and dense noise (75% degraded visual quality from no-noise)., The RTs provided the information about the overt responses; however, the temporal relationship of visual quality (starts earlier than quantity perception) and quantity were examined using eventrelated potentials (ERPs) extracted from continuous EEG recordings. The analysis of the RTs revealed that the judgment of number quantity is dependent upon visual number quality. In addition, the same effect was observed over the ERP components occurring between 100 ms and 300 ms after stimulus onset time over the posterior electrodes. Principal components analysis (PCA) and independent component analysis (ICA) methods were used to further analyze the ERP data. The consistent results of the PCA and ICA were used to represent the spatial brain dynamics, as well as to obtain temporal dynamics. The overall conclusion of the present study is that ERPs, ICs and PCs along with RTs suggested a strategy of quantitative perception (i.e., number comparison) based on the qualitative attributes of the stimuli highlighting the importance of the design of the task and the methodology
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/2867328
Subject Headings
Cognitive neuroscience, Learning, Physiological aspects, Visual perception, Information visualization, Mathematics, Philosophy
Format
Document (PDF)
Phonological memory and the development of vocabulary and grammar in young Spanish-English bilinguals
Title
Phonological memory and the development of vocabulary and grammar in young Spanish-English bilinguals.
Creator
Parra, Marisol., Charles E. Schmidt College of Science, Department of Psychology
Abstract/Description
This study tested the hypotheses that phonological memory contributes to vocabulary and grammatical development in young Spanish-English bilinguals, and that the relation between phonological memory and both vocabulary and grammar is language-specific. Phonological memory skill was the percentage of consonants correctly repeated (PCC) in English, and Spanish Nonword Repetition (NWR) tasks at 22 months. Vocabulary size and grammatical complexity were measured at 25 months using the English and...
Show moreThis study tested the hypotheses that phonological memory contributes to vocabulary and grammatical development in young Spanish-English bilinguals, and that the relation between phonological memory and both vocabulary and grammar is language-specific. Phonological memory skill was the percentage of consonants correctly repeated (PCC) in English, and Spanish Nonword Repetition (NWR) tasks at 22 months. Vocabulary size and grammatical complexity were measured at 25 months using the English and Spanish versions for the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories. Nonword repetition accuracy was significantly related to both subsequent vocabulary size and grammatical complexity within and across languages after controlling for the percentage of input in English. The relations were not significantly higher within than between languages. The results suggest that in these young Spanish-English simultaneous bilinguals phonological memory is a language-general ability that contributes to the development of vocabulary and grammar in both English and Spanish.
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Date Issued
2010
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/FAU/1927606
Subject Headings
Language and languages, Physiological aspects, Bilingualism, Second language acquisition, Learning, Psychology of
Format
Document (PDF)
Specific and non-specific cognitive operations as language options for memory questions: AnfMRI study
Title
Specific and non-specific cognitive operations as language options for memory questions: AnfMRI study.
Creator
Jantzen, McNeel Gordon., Florida Atlantic University, Ashworth, Sara
Abstract/Description
In order for memory questions to accomplish the goals of questions, teachers need to determine specific content and cognitive goals for each question so that questions can direct learners' attention and reinforce an organizational structure for the encoding of information. The purpose of this study was to examine the language used in memory questions for assessment purposes and to examine whether different language options used when formulating memory questions engaged brain areas related to...
Show moreIn order for memory questions to accomplish the goals of questions, teachers need to determine specific content and cognitive goals for each question so that questions can direct learners' attention and reinforce an organizational structure for the encoding of information. The purpose of this study was to examine the language used in memory questions for assessment purposes and to examine whether different language options used when formulating memory questions engaged brain areas related to memory and cognition. The language of the questions can affect the cognitive process by which the answer is derived. The two language options that affect cognitive processes are non-specific and specific. This study supplements teachers' working knowledge of the methods and techniques for questioning by providing a basic understanding of cognitive processes that different questions can evoke. This study used techniques from neuroscience to test hypotheses derived directly from education-based theories of cognition in order to validate educational theory. Neuroscience provides knowledge about how the brain senses, processes, stores, and retrieves information. It also provides findings that can be translated into practical applications for the classroom. Therefore, the relationship between education and neuroscience contributes to effective planning, practices, and assessment; it allows a more comprehensive understanding of the difficulties and apprehensions associated with learning. The following study utilized fMRI to answer the general question of the relationship between the memory processes associated with specific and non-specific questions. Seventeen undergraduate and graduate students from a university in South Florida served as subjects. Subjects were presented with a stimulus consisting of specific questions, non-specific questions, and control statements. All questions/statements followed the design of 8 seconds to read the question/statement, 10 seconds to "think" about the answer to the question or the material presented in the statement, 4 seconds for response using a "yes" or "no" button, and a 12 second rest period. Images collected were analyzed using AFNI. Specific cognitive operations improved efficiency for the retrieval of information from memory. Results elucidate differences in neural activity associated with encoding processes and the retrieval of information from memory based on the language used in specific and non-specific questions.
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Date Issued
2004
PURL
http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12115
Subject Headings
Cognitive learning, Education--Effect of technological innovations on, Experiential learning, Brain--Psychophysiology, Learning--Physiological aspects, Recollection (Psychology), Memory
Format
Document (PDF)