Lexical Tone Perception in Tone language--a fMRI Study
Condition: Lexical Tone; Neuroimaging; Chinese; Speech Perception
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Tone language refers to a language that uses fixed pitch pattern to distinguish words (Yip,
      2002). Understanding the functional anatomy of the brain during lexical tone processing will
      provide useful hints for an effective intervention strategy such as brain stimulation. The
      present study investigate the cortical organisation of the brain in lexical tone perception
      of Cantonese speakers by the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).
    

Detailed description: 
      Tone language refers to a language that uses fixed pitch pattern to distinguish words (Yip,
      2002). Cantonese is one of the main tone languages spoken by over 70 million around the world
      (Li et al.,1995; Adolfsson, 2010). Individuals with significant hearing impairment often
      present great difficulty in tone perception, affecting their understanding of words and
      hence, hamper their overall communication. The poor tone perception persists even with
      intensive auditory training coupled with advanced hearing technology such as cochlear
      implants.

      Understanding the functional anatomy of the brain during lexical tone processing will provide
      useful hints for an effective intervention strategy such as brain stimulation. Researchers
      have been investigating the neural basis for tone perception in the past decades but failing
      to come to a consensus on the location of the brain that is responsible for lexical tone
      processing. The discrepant results may be due to the fact of the differences in subject
      selection (animals, healthy adults, brain-injured patients, tonal-language and non-tonal
      language speakers), testing materials and tasks employed (linguistic versus non-linguistic
      stimuli; dichotic listening versus discrimination and identification tasks) and outcome
      measurements (performance score, reaction time, accuracy rate, PET scan and fMRI).

      Cortical organization, or brain mapping, refers to functional anatomy of the brain. The
      present study is the first study to systematically investigate the cortical organization of
      the brain in lexical tone perception of Cantonese speakers by the use of functional magnetic
      resonance imaging (fMRI). A comprehensive set of auditory stimuli specifically for
      investigating the different levels of lexical tone processing will be constructed. Native
      Cantonese speakers with normal hearing were recruited. They underwent fMRI while listening to
      the carefully designed auditory stimuli.

      Once the cortical organization of lexical tone processing in Cantonese is identified, the
      valuable findings could be applied in further brain intervention procedures to tackle the
      long lasting, unresolved tone perception difficulty encountered by people with hearing
      impairment or other related disorders.
    

Intervention name(s): Normal hearing group
Intervention type(s): Other
Intervention description(s): Observational
Observational model: Other
Time perspective: Other
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Recruitment via University mass mail They were paid for their participations.
      
Keywords: Speech Perception; Neuroimaging; Lexical Tone; Chinese