title: Experience-dependent neural plasticity is sensitive to shape of pitch contours.
abstract: Language experience is known to modulate the preattentive processing of linguistically relevant pitch contours when presented in the speech domain. To assess if experience-dependent effects are specific to speech, we evaluated the mismatch negativity response to nonspeech homologs (iterated rippled noise) of such curvilinear pitch contours (Mandarin: Tone 1, 'high level'; Tone 2, 'high rising') by Chinese and English listeners as well as to a pitch contour that was a linear approximation of Tone 2 ('linear ascending ramp'). Mandarin speakers showed larger mismatch negativity responses than English to the curvilinear pitch contours only. These results suggest that experience-dependent neural plasticity in early cortical processing of linguistically relevant pitch contours is sensitive to naturally occurring pitch dimensions but not specific to speech per se.
authors.affiliation: Department of Speech Language Hearing Sciences, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
authors.forename: Bharath
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chandrasekaran
authors.forename: Ananthanarayan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.forename: Jackson T
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Gandour
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D004569:Electroencephalography; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007807:Language Tests; D007858:Learning / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D010898:Pitch Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D012815:Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D014705:Verbal Behavior / Q000502:physiology*