A distributed dynamic brain network mediates linguistic tone representation and categorization
Gangyi Feng,
Zhenzhong Gan,
Fernando Llanos,
Danting Meng,
Suiping Wang,
Patrick C.M. Wong,
Bharath Chandrasekaran
Affiliations
Gangyi Feng
Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China; Corresponding authors.
Zhenzhong Gan
Center for the Study of Applied Psychology and School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Fernando Llanos
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States
Danting Meng
Center for the Study of Applied Psychology and School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Suiping Wang
Center for the Study of Applied Psychology and School of Psychology, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China; Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, South China Normal University, Guangzhou 510631, China
Patrick C.M. Wong
Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China; Brain and Mind Institute, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong SAR, China
Bharath Chandrasekaran
Department of Communication Science and Disorders, School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, United States; Corresponding authors.
Successful categorization requires listeners to represent the incoming sensory information, resolve the “blooming, buzzing confusion” inherent to noisy sensory signals, and leverage the accumulated evidence towards making a decision. Despite decades of intense debate, the neural systems underlying speech categorization remain unresolved. Here we assessed the neural representation and categorization of lexical tones by native Mandarin speakers (N = 31) across a range of acoustic and contextual variabilities (talkers, perceptual saliences, and stimulus-contexts) using functional magnetic imaging (fMRI) and an evidence accumulation model of decision-making. Univariate activation and multivariate pattern analyses reveal that the acoustic-variability-tolerant representations of tone category are observed within the middle portion of the left superior temporal gyrus (STG). Activation patterns in the frontal and parietal regions also contained category-relevant information that was differentially sensitive to various forms of variability. The robustness of neural representations of tone category in a distributed fronto-temporoparietal network is associated with trial-by-trial decision-making parameters. These findings support a hybrid model involving a representational core within the STG that operates dynamically within an extensive frontoparietal network to support the representation and categorization of linguistic pitch patterns.
