EEG Neural Oscillatory Correlates of Focal Attention during Speech Auditory Feedback Error Detection and Motor Control

Poster Session F - Tuesday, April 16, 2024, 8:00 – 10:00 am EDT, Sheraton Hall ABC

Yilun zhang¹, Kimaya Sarmukadam², Roozbeh Behroozmand¹; ¹Speech Neuroscience Lab, Department of Speech Language and Hearing, School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, The University of Texas at Dallas, ²Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, Arnold School of Public Health, University of South Carolina

Objective: The present study used a novel altered auditory feedback (AAF) paradigm to investigate how attentional mechanisms affect speech auditory feedback error detection and motor control, as well as the role of neural oscillations and their associated mechanisms in this context. Method: Electroencephalography (EEG) and speech data were recorded from 21 neurologically intact participants in an AAF paradigm. Participants were directed to focus on the auditory feedback and respond by pressing a button to indicate the detection of a pitch-shift stimulus. Data from this group was contrasted with 22 subjects who completed the same AAF task without attentional instructions. Behavioral data were extracted by measuring speech AAF compensation and percentage of correct button press responses, and event-related spectral power of EEG neural oscillations was extracted using time-frequency analysis within distinct frequency bands encompassing theta (4–8 Hz), alpha (8–13 Hz), low beta (13–20 Hz), high beta (20-30 Hz), and gamma (30–80 Hz). Results: Our data revealed a significantly enhanced high-beta band desynchronization and smaller magnitudes of speech compensation for the attention group. In addition, the time-frequency analysis showed a positive linear association between speech compensation magnitude and the gamma band power, as well as positive relationships between button press accuracy and alpha and low-beta band power. Conclusion: These findings suggest attention results in more stable speech output (i.e. smaller compensation) in response to pitch perturbations in auditory feedback. In addition, the findings also highlight the effect of focal attention on the neural mechanisms of speech error detection and sensorimotor control.

Topic Area: ATTENTION: Other