Neural bases of accented speech perception.
The recognition of unfamiliar regional and foreign accents represents a challenging task for the speech perception system (Floccia et al., 2006; Adank et al., 2009). Despite the frequency with which we encounter such accents, the neural mechanisms supporting successful perception of accented speech are poorly understood. Nonetheless, candidate neural substrates involved in processing speech in challenging listening conditions, including accented speech, are beginning to be identified. This review will outline neural bases associated with perception of accented speech in the light of current models of speech perception, and compare these data to brain areas associated with processing other speech distortions. We will subsequently evaluate competing models of speech processing with regards to neural processing of accented speech. See Cristia et al. (2012) for an in-depth overview of behavioral aspects of accent processing.
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Speech, Hearing, and Phonetic Sciences, University College London London, UK ; School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester Manchester, UK.
Patti
P
Adank
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Speech, Hearing, and Phonetic Sciences, University College London London, UK.
Helen E
HE
Nuttall
School of Psychological Sciences, University of Manchester Manchester, UK.
Briony
B
Banks
Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, Department of Speech, Hearing, and Phonetic Sciences, University College London London, UK.
Daniel
D
Kennedy-Higgins
accented speech; cognitive neuroscience; fMRI; noise-vocoded speech; speech in noise; speech perception; time-compressed speech