Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Sep 1, 2015
Neural theories of auditory perception often characterize subcortical structures as relay station... more Neural theories of auditory perception often characterize subcortical structures as relay stations by which acoustic input is passively encoded into a representation that can be recognized by cortical networks. However, efferent projections throughout the peripheral auditory pathway (Huffman & Henson, 1990) suggest a corticofugal network consisting of ascending and descending pathways may play an important role in the perception of acoustic signals. Based on cortical suppression evidence in the primary auditory cortex during movement (Schneider et al., 2014), we investigated whether similar suppressive effects can be seen at the level of the auditory brainstem and whether there are interactions with attention. The Frequency Following Response (FFR) to a 440Hz sine tone was measured while participants engaged in two finger tapping tasks equated in motor behavior but varying in attentional demand. Spectral peak analysis of the FFRs revealed decreased amplitude at 440 Hz for the tapping task that required more attention, suggesting that rather than a general suppression of the peripheral auditory pathway during motor behavior, the interaction between the motor system and the auditory brainstem is mediated by attentional networks that are involved in allocating resources to various sensory networks. [This work was supported in part by ONR grant DoD/ONR N00014-12-1-0850.]
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Nov 1, 2007
Research on selective attention in speech perception has examined how listeners process source in... more Research on selective attention in speech perception has examined how listeners process source information or linguistic information. Much of this work has focused on specifying the boundary conditions under which perceptual processing is limited, and how attention to talker and linguistic information can compete for limited processing resources. In general, listeners can only attend to a single stream of speech, and changing the talker increases demands on attention. The studies that support this claim usually use target detection or speeded classification tasks, activities we seldom engage in during normal conversation which is the protypical form of spoken language use. Is attention to speech as limited in real conversations as it is in stylized laboratory tasks? In a phone survey paradigm, participants engaged in naturalistic conversation rarely detect changes in their interlocutor. Furthermore, when participants expect that a change in interlocutor will occur, they largely believe that they have spoken to two different people even when the same person conducted the entire experiment. During a conversation, attention is directed to speech consistent with listening goals, and perception of a talkers voice is not an automatic consequence of attending the linguistic message.
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Sep 1, 2015
Neural theories of auditory perception often characterize subcortical structures as relay station... more Neural theories of auditory perception often characterize subcortical structures as relay stations by which acoustic input is passively encoded into a representation that can be recognized by cortical networks. However, efferent projections throughout the peripheral auditory pathway (Huffman & Henson, 1990) suggest a corticofugal network consisting of ascending and descending pathways may play an important role in the perception of acoustic signals. Based on cortical suppression evidence in the primary auditory cortex during movement (Schneider et al., 2014), we investigated whether similar suppressive effects can be seen at the level of the auditory brainstem and whether there are interactions with attention. The Frequency Following Response (FFR) to a 440Hz sine tone was measured while participants engaged in two finger tapping tasks equated in motor behavior but varying in attentional demand. Spectral peak analysis of the FFRs revealed decreased amplitude at 440 Hz for the tapping task that required more attention, suggesting that rather than a general suppression of the peripheral auditory pathway during motor behavior, the interaction between the motor system and the auditory brainstem is mediated by attentional networks that are involved in allocating resources to various sensory networks. [This work was supported in part by ONR grant DoD/ONR N00014-12-1-0850.]
Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Nov 1, 2007
Research on selective attention in speech perception has examined how listeners process source in... more Research on selective attention in speech perception has examined how listeners process source information or linguistic information. Much of this work has focused on specifying the boundary conditions under which perceptual processing is limited, and how attention to talker and linguistic information can compete for limited processing resources. In general, listeners can only attend to a single stream of speech, and changing the talker increases demands on attention. The studies that support this claim usually use target detection or speeded classification tasks, activities we seldom engage in during normal conversation which is the protypical form of spoken language use. Is attention to speech as limited in real conversations as it is in stylized laboratory tasks? In a phone survey paradigm, participants engaged in naturalistic conversation rarely detect changes in their interlocutor. Furthermore, when participants expect that a change in interlocutor will occur, they largely believe that they have spoken to two different people even when the same person conducted the entire experiment. During a conversation, attention is directed to speech consistent with listening goals, and perception of a talkers voice is not an automatic consequence of attending the linguistic message.
To better understand the cultivation of positive intra- and interpersonal emotions, we examined a... more To better understand the cultivation of positive intra- and interpersonal emotions, we examined an argument that some effects of contemplative training result from language processing. We presented participants with loving-kindness language used in kindness-meditation training studies and asked them to rate imagined pain. If loving-kindness language processing is responsible for some effects recently reported we expected this language could affect intra- and interpersonal sensitivity. Loving-kindness language participants rated imagined other-pain significantly higher and imagined self-pain significantly lower than closely matched control participants. As a result of this interaction, the loving-kindness-language group showed no significant difference between self pain and other-pain, whereas controls rated self-pain significantly higher than other-pain. These results suggest that exposure to loving-kindness-language in Loving Kindness Meditation leads to changes in sensitivity to own and vicarious distress without explicit training. These findings underscore that meditation-like effects may be easily induced. Further research is needed to determine duration and degree of effect.
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Papers by Howard Nusbaum
results suggest that exposure to loving-kindness-language in Loving Kindness Meditation leads to changes in sensitivity to own and vicarious distress without explicit training. These findings underscore that meditation-like effects may be easily induced. Further research is needed to determine duration and degree of effect.