Predictive coordination of breathing during intra-personal speaking and listening
Omid Abbasi,
Daniel S. Kluger,
Nikos Chalas,
Nadine Steingräber,
Lars Meyer,
Joachim Gross
Affiliations
Omid Abbasi
Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Daniel S. Kluger
Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Corresponding author
Nikos Chalas
Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Nadine Steingräber
Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Lars Meyer
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Leipzig, Germany
Joachim Gross
Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignal Analysis, University of Münster, Münster, Germany; Otto-Creutzfeldt-Center for Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Münster, Münster, Germany
Summary: It has long been known that human breathing is altered during listening and speaking compared to rest: during speaking, inhalation depth is adjusted to the air volume required for the upcoming utterance. During listening, inhalation is temporally aligned to inhalation of the speaker. While evidence for the former is relatively strong, it is virtually absent for the latter. We address both phenomena using recordings of speech envelope and respiration in 30 participants during 14 min of speaking and listening to one’s own speech. First, we show that inhalation depth is positively correlated with the total power of the speech envelope in the following utterance. Second, we provide evidence that inhalation during listening to one’s own speech is significantly more likely at time points of inhalation during speaking. These findings are compatible with models that postulate alignment of internal forward models of interlocutors with the aim to facilitate communication.
