Lexical Tone Perception in Tone language--a fMRI Study

Study Overview
=================
Brief 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.

Official Title
-----------------
Lexical Tone Perception in Tone Language speakers--a fMRI Study

Conditions
-----------------
Lexical Tone, Neuroimaging, Chinese, Speech Perception

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Other: Normal hearing group


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: native Cantonese speaker right-handed normal hearing no reported of neurological disorder Exclusion Criteria: neurological disorder left-handed hearing impairment

Ages Eligible for Study
-----------------
Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 60 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Normal hearing group<br>Right-handed, normal hearing, no reported neurological disorders | Other: Normal hearing group<br>* Observational<br>|

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Activation areas in the brain that are responsible for lexical tone perception | To identify the activation area(s) in the brain that are responsible for lexical tone perception in normal hearing participants | 2015-2019 | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Accuracy rate | Accuracy rate of passive listening task | 2015-2019 | 
| Reaction Time | reaction time of passive listening task | 2015-2019 | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
Speech Perception, Neuroimaging, Lexical Tone, Chinese