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Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study

In contrast with for example audiovisual speech, the relation between visual and auditory properties of letters and speech sounds is artificial and learned only by explicit instruction. The arbitrariness of the audiovisual link together with the widespread usage of letter–speech sound pairs in alpha...

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Autores principales: Froyen, Dries, van Atteveldt, Nienke, Blomert, Leo
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Research Foundation 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859813/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20428501
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2010.00009
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author Froyen, Dries
van Atteveldt, Nienke
Blomert, Leo
author_facet Froyen, Dries
van Atteveldt, Nienke
Blomert, Leo
author_sort Froyen, Dries
collection PubMed
description In contrast with for example audiovisual speech, the relation between visual and auditory properties of letters and speech sounds is artificial and learned only by explicit instruction. The arbitrariness of the audiovisual link together with the widespread usage of letter–speech sound pairs in alphabetic languages makes those audiovisual objects a unique subject for crossmodal research. Brain imaging evidence has indicated that heteromodal areas in superior temporal, as well as modality-specific auditory cortex are involved in letter–speech sound processing. The role of low level visual areas, however, remains unclear. In this study the visual counterpart of the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) is used to investigate the influences of speech sounds on letter processing. Letter and non-letter deviants were infrequently presented in a train of standard letters, either in isolation or simultaneously with speech sounds. Although previous findings showed that letters systematically modulate speech sound processing (reflected by auditory MMN amplitude modulation), the reverse does not seem to hold: our results did not show evidence for an automatic influence of speech sounds on letter processing (no visual MMN amplitude modulation). This apparent asymmetric recruitment of low level sensory cortices during letter–speech sound processing, contrasts with the symmetric involvement of these cortices in audiovisual speech processing, and is possibly due to the arbitrary nature of the link between letters and speech sounds.
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spelling pubmed-28598132010-04-27 Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study Froyen, Dries van Atteveldt, Nienke Blomert, Leo Front Integr Neurosci Neuroscience In contrast with for example audiovisual speech, the relation between visual and auditory properties of letters and speech sounds is artificial and learned only by explicit instruction. The arbitrariness of the audiovisual link together with the widespread usage of letter–speech sound pairs in alphabetic languages makes those audiovisual objects a unique subject for crossmodal research. Brain imaging evidence has indicated that heteromodal areas in superior temporal, as well as modality-specific auditory cortex are involved in letter–speech sound processing. The role of low level visual areas, however, remains unclear. In this study the visual counterpart of the auditory mismatch negativity (MMN) is used to investigate the influences of speech sounds on letter processing. Letter and non-letter deviants were infrequently presented in a train of standard letters, either in isolation or simultaneously with speech sounds. Although previous findings showed that letters systematically modulate speech sound processing (reflected by auditory MMN amplitude modulation), the reverse does not seem to hold: our results did not show evidence for an automatic influence of speech sounds on letter processing (no visual MMN amplitude modulation). This apparent asymmetric recruitment of low level sensory cortices during letter–speech sound processing, contrasts with the symmetric involvement of these cortices in audiovisual speech processing, and is possibly due to the arbitrary nature of the link between letters and speech sounds. Frontiers Research Foundation 2010-04-13 /pmc/articles/PMC2859813/ /pubmed/20428501 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2010.00009 Text en Copyright © 2010 Froyen, van Atteveldt and Blomert. http://www.frontiersin.org/licenseagreement This is an open-access article subject to an exclusive license agreement between the authors and the Frontiers Research Foundation, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original authors and source are credited.
spellingShingle Neuroscience
Froyen, Dries
van Atteveldt, Nienke
Blomert, Leo
Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study
title Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study
title_full Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study
title_fullStr Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study
title_full_unstemmed Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study
title_short Exploring the Role of Low Level Visual Processing in Letter–Speech Sound Integration: A Visual MMN Study
title_sort exploring the role of low level visual processing in letter–speech sound integration: a visual mmn study
topic Neuroscience
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859813/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20428501
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fnint.2010.00009
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