Brain Rhythms in Speech Production

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Joachim Gross
• Subject Area: Human Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience ; Cognitive, Systems and Behavioural Neurobiology
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 417044868

• Final Report Year: 2024

Final Report Abstract

Our research delved into the intricate neural processes underlying speech production and perception, utilizing magnetoencephalography (MEG) as a primary tool. Initial challenges were overcome by developing a robust method to mitigate speech-related artifacts in MEG data. Subsequent investigations focused on characterizing brain rhythms, revealing a complex interplay between frequency, brain region, and cognitive function. A key finding was the identification of a systematic decrease in dominant brain frequency from posterior to anterior regions, aligning with the cortical hierarchy. This discovery provided a novel framework for understanding brain organization and function. Further studies explored how these intrinsic brain rhythms synchronize with the dynamic patterns of speech, demonstrating distinct roles for different frequency bands in speech processing and comprehension. The research highlighted the brain's ability to segment continuous speech utilizing brain rhythms, influenced by prosodic cues, topic keywords, and higher-level linguistic processing. Beyond pure speech, the project contributed to uncovering a significant influence of respiration on brain activity. By investigating the interplay between breathing patterns and neural oscillations, we demonstrated how respiration modulates brain states, impacting perception, motor control, and cognitive processes including speech production. A novel framework was proposed to explain the complex relationship between respiration and brain activity, emphasizing its potential role in shaping various cognitive functions such as speech. In summary, this research made substantial contributions to our understanding of the neural basis of speech and the broader context of brain-body interactions. By elucidating the complex interplay between brain rhythms, speech processing, and respiratory patterns, the findings offer valuable insights for future research in neuroscience, cognitive science, and related fields.

Publications

• Brain activity reflects the predictability of word sequences in listened continuous speech. NeuroImage, 219, 116936.
  Koskinen, Miika; Kurimo, Mikko; Gross, Joachim; Hyvärinen, Aapo & Hari, Riitta
  
• Depth and phase of respiration modulate cortico-muscular communication. NeuroImage, 222, 117272.
  Kluger, Daniel S. & Gross, Joachim
  
• Shared and modality-specific brain regions that mediate auditory and visual word comprehension. eLife, 9.
  Keitel, Anne; Gross, Joachim & Kayser, Christoph
  
• The frequency gradient of human resting-state brain oscillations follows cortical hierarchies. eLife, 9.
  Mahjoory, Keyvan; Schoffelen, Jan-Mathijs; Keitel, Anne & Gross, Joachim
  
• Comparison of undirected frequency-domain connectivity measures for cerebro-peripheral analysis. NeuroImage, 245, 118660.
  Gross, Joachim; Kluger, Daniel S.; Abbasi, Omid; Chalas, Nikolas; Steingräber, Nadine; Daube, Christoph & Schoffelen, Jan-Mathijs
  
• Correcting MEG Artifacts Caused by Overt Speech. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 15.
  Abbasi, Omid; Steingräber, Nadine & Gross, Joachim
  
• Respiration aligns perception with neural excitability. eLife, 10.
  Kluger, Daniel S.; Balestrieri, Elio; Busch, Niko A. & Gross, Joachim
  
• Respiration modulates oscillatory neural network activity at rest. PLOS Biology, 19(11), e3001457.
  Kluger, Daniel S. & Gross, Joachim
  
• Coupling of pupil- and neuronal population dynamics reveals diverse influences of arousal on cortical processing. ELife, 11.
  Pfeffer, Thomas; Keitel, Christian; Kluger, Daniel S; Keitel, Anne; Russmann, Alena; Thut, Gregor; Donner, Tobias H. & Gross, Joachim
  
• Differential roles of delta and theta oscillations in understanding semantic gist during natural audiovisual speech perception: Functional and anatomical evidence.
  Park, Hyojin; Ince, Robin A. A. & Gross, Joachim
  
• Multivariate analysis of speech envelope tracking reveals coupling beyond auditory cortex. NeuroImage, 258, 119395.
  Chalas, Nikos; Daube, Christoph; Kluger, Daniel S.; Abbasi, Omid; Nitsch, Robert & Gross, Joachim
  
• The natural frequencies of the resting human brain: An MEG-based atlas. NeuroImage, 258, 119373.
  Capilla, Almudena; Arana, Lydia; García-Huéscar, Marta; Melcón, María; Gross, Joachim & Campo, Pablo
  
• Breathing in waves: Understanding respiratory-brain coupling as a gradient of predictive oscillations. Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 152, 105262.
  Brændholt, Malthe; Kluger, Daniel S.; Varga, Somogy; Heck, Detlef H.; Gross, Joachim & Allen, Micah G.
  
• Get the gist of the story: Neural map of topic keywords in multi-speaker environment. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd.
  Park, Hyojin & Gross, Joachim
  
• Modulatory dynamics of periodic and aperiodic activity in respiration-brain coupling. Nature Communications, 14(1).
  Kluger, Daniel S.; Forster, Carina; Abbasi, Omid; Chalas, Nikos; Villringer, Arno & Gross, Joachim
  
• Predictive coordination of breathing during intra-personal speaking and listening. iScience, 26(8), 107281.
  Abbasi, Omid; Kluger, Daniel S.; Chalas, Nikos; Steingräber, Nadine; Meyer, Lars & Gross, Joachim
  
• Spatiotemporal dynamics characterise spectral connectivity profiles of continuous speaking and listening. PLOS Biology, 21(7), e3002178.
  Abbasi, Omid; Steingräber, Nadine; Chalas, Nikos; Kluger, Daniel S. & Gross, Joachim
  
• Speech onsets and sustained speech contribute differentially to delta and theta speech tracking in auditory cortex. Cerebral Cortex, 33(10), 6273-6281.
  Chalas, Nikos; Daube, Christoph; Kluger, Daniel S.; Abbasi, Omid; Nitsch, Robert & Gross, Joachim
  
• Dissociating prosodic from syntactic delta activity during natural speech comprehension. Current Biology, 34(15), 3537-3549.e5.
  Chalas, Nikos; Meyer, Lars; Lo, Chia-Wen; Park, Hyojin; Kluger, Daniel S.; Abbasi, Omid; Kayser, Christoph; Nitsch, Robert & Gross, Joachim
  
• Entrainment echoes in the cerebellum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 121(34).
  Zoefel, Benedikt; Abbasi, Omid; Gross, Joachim & Kotz, Sonja A.
  
• Frequency-specific cortico-subcortical interaction in continuous speaking and listening. eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd.
  Abbasi, Omid; Steingräber, Nadine; Chalas, Nikos; Kluger, Daniel S. & Gross, Joachim