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Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

NCT number NCT02774356
Other study ID # 1505M69162
Secondary ID
Status Completed
Phase N/A
First received June 9, 2015
Last updated January 17, 2017
Start date July 2015
Est. completion date December 2016

Study information

Verified date January 2017
Source University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute
Contact n/a
Is FDA regulated No
Health authority
Study type Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

This mentored student research project is funded by the Graduate Research Partnership Program with a projected timeline for data collection in the summer of 2015. Previous research has shown that language experience alters the way the human brain processes speech information. This phenomenon takes place very early in life and is referred to as Native Language Neural Commitment. For instance, as the Japanese language does not have the l-r speech sound contrast, Japanese infants start to show difficulty in hearing differences between the English l and r sounds at 12 months of age but not when they were at 6 months old. Learning the l-r distinction later in life proves to be very difficult for the Japanese school students and adults. Brain imaging studies have further revealed specific brain regions that are changed by language learning. But the evidence in support of the Native Language Neural Commitment theory is based on cortical-level measures. The proposed study extends the measurement to the subcortical level at the brainstem. The target language that the investigators are interested in studying is Mandarin Chinese, which is known for its use of lexical tones to express different words. For instance, the Chinese syllable "ma" means "mother" when it is spoken with a flat tone, and it means "hemp" when spoken with a rising tone. English, by contrast, does not employ lexical tones, and it is considered a non-tonal language. Does the Chinese learning experience fundamental change the way that pitch information is coded in the human brain? Does it happen at both cortical and subcortical levels? Previous research has shown evidence for a positive answer to both questions. But the direct evidence for brain-behavior correlations at the subcortical level is still missing.

The proposed cross-language study will test Chinese-speaking and English-speaking adults to investigate Native Language Neural Commitment at the subcortical level. The investigators are interested in differences in the two subject populations by examining the relationship between brainstem pitch tracking and behavioral pitch perception in linguistic and nonlinguistic stimuli.

The results of the proposed project will contribute to the understanding the role of the subcortical brainstem in Native Language Neural Commitment, which have significant implications for the development of auditory/speech training programs and assessment tools utilizing the brainstem frequency following measure to monitor progress in second language learning and test clinical populations.


Recruitment information / eligibility

Status Completed
Enrollment 36
Est. completion date December 2016
Est. primary completion date December 2016
Accepts healthy volunteers Accepts Healthy Volunteers
Gender All
Age group 18 Years to 50 Years
Eligibility Inclusion Criteria:

1. Native Mandarin Chinese speakers

2. Native English speakers

3. Non-musicians.

4. English speakers must have no prior experience with a tonal language.

5. Normal hearing

6. Age range to 18-50.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Speech-language-hearing disorders, neurophysiological/psychiatric conditions, including stroke or brain injuries, which would prevent the subject from sitting still and performing the experimental tasks.

2. Subjects with three or more than three years of musical practice/training will be excluded.

Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms


Locations

Country Name City State
United States Zhang Lab at Department of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences Minneapolis Minnesota

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor Collaborator
University of Minnesota - Clinical and Translational Science Institute

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (5)

Bidelman GM, Gandour JT, Krishnan A. Musicians and tone-language speakers share enhanced brainstem encoding but not perceptual benefits for musical pitch. Brain Cogn. 2011 Oct;77(1):1-10. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.07.006. — View Citation

Krishnan A, Xu Y, Gandour J, Cariani P. Encoding of pitch in the human brainstem is sensitive to language experience. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res. 2005 Sep;25(1):161-8. — View Citation

Marmel F, Linley D, Carlyon RP, Gockel HE, Hopkins K, Plack CJ. Subcortical neural synchrony and absolute thresholds predict frequency discrimination independently. J Assoc Res Otolaryngol. 2013 Oct;14(5):757-66. doi: 10.1007/s10162-013-0402-3. — View Citation

Xu Q, Gong Q. Frequency difference beyond behavioral limen reflected by frequency following response of human auditory Brainstem. Biomed Eng Online. 2014 Aug 9;13:114. doi: 10.1186/1475-925X-13-114. — View Citation

Zhang Y, Kuhl PK, Imada T, Kotani M, Tohkura Y. Effects of language experience: neural commitment to language-specific auditory patterns. Neuroimage. 2005 Jul 1;26(3):703-20. — View Citation

Outcome

Type Measure Description Time frame Safety issue
Primary Pitch strength of Brainstem EEG (electroencephalography) responses EEG signals to pitch changes in speech and nonspeech sounds are analyzed to obtain the brainstem frequency following responses (FFRs). Autocorrelation method will be applied to the FFRs to quantify each participant's brainstem pitch strength. Higher average autocorrelation value indicates greater pitch strength. This EEG measure is to see whether tonal-language speakers and nontonal language speakers differ in brainstem encoding of pitch information. Outcome will be measured at one 1.5-hr session after the participant is recruited.
Primary Reaction time in millesecond for speech perception of syllables with varying pitch contour This behavioral measure in terms of syllable perception is to test whether syllabic perception is influenced by pitch information and whether tonal-language speakers' sensitivity towards pitch differences would affect the speech perception differently. Outcome will be measured at one 1.5-hr session after the participant is recruited.
Primary Correlation between the EEG and the Behavioral measures Outcome will be measured at one 1.5-hr session after the participant is recruited.
Primary Pitch tracking accuracy of Brainstem EEG (electroencephalography) responses Strength of stimulus-to-response correlation will assessed. Higher correlation coefficient between the fundamental frequency of the stimulus and that of the FFR response will indicate greater accuracy of the brainstem pitch tracking. This EEG measure is to see whether tonal-language speakers and nontonal language speakers differ in brainstem encoding of pitch information. Outcome will be measured at one 1.5-hr session after the participant is recruited.
Primary Duration estimate of syllables with varying pitch contour This behavioral measure in terms of syllable duration estimation is to test whether duration estimation is influenced by pitch information and whether tonal-language speakers' sensitivity towards pitch differences would affect the duration estimation differently. Outcome will be measured at one 1.5-hr session after the participant is recruited.
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