UNASSIGNED: @entity1 show a remarkable ability to understand continuous speech even under adverse listening conditions. This ability critically relies on dynamically updated predictions of incoming sensory information,  but exactly how top-down predictions improve speech processing is still unclear. @entity75 are a likely mechanism for these top-down predictions [1, 2]. Quasi-rhythmic components in speech are known to entrain @entity4365 in auditory areas [3, 4], and this entrainment increases with intelligibility [5]. We hypothesize that top-down signals from frontal brain areas causally modulate the phase of @entity75 in auditory cortex. We use magnetoencephalography (MEG) to monitor @entity75 in 22 @entity1 during continuous speech perception. We characterize prominent spectral components of speech-brain coupling in auditory cortex and use causal connectivity analysis (transfer entropy) to identify the top-down signals driving this coupling more strongly during intelligible speech than during unintelligible speech. We report three main findings. First, frontal and motor cortices significantly modulate the phase of speech-coupled @entity4365 in auditory cortex, and this effect depends on intelligibility of speech. Second, top-down signals are significantly stronger for left auditory cortex than for right auditory cortex. Third, speech-auditory cortex coupling is enhanced as a function of stronger top-down signals. Together, our results suggest that @entity4365 play a role in implementing predictive top-down control during continuous speech perception and that top-down control is largely directed at left auditory cortex. This suggests a close relationship between (left-lateralized) speech production areas and the implementation of top-down control in continuous speech perception.

Frontal Top-Down Signals Increase Coupling of Auditory Low-Frequency Oscillations to Continuous Speech in XXXX Listeners.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['participants', 'Humans'] @entity75 :: ('MESH:D001927', 'Disease') :: ['Brain oscillations', 'brain oscillations'] @entity4365 :: ('MESH:C565121', 'Disease') :: ['low-frequency brain oscillations', 'low-frequency oscillations']
@entity1 :: (9606,Species) :: ['Human']
