Facilitadores en el procesamiento cognitivo de la información rítmica. Revisión de la literatura sobre los conceptos de pulso, tempo, metro y acento / Facilitating factors in the cognitive processing of rhythmic information. A review of the literature on the concepts of pulse, tempo, meter and accent

Resumen Los modelos de percepción del ritmo han estudiado una importante variedad de características generales de las estructuras temporales y elementos específicos del ritmo musical, y presentan un grado de heterogeneidad en los objetos de estudio. Sin embargo, la mayoría de las investigaciones convergen en el análisis de los procesos relacionados con la detección, por parte del oyente, de un pulso temporal subyacente. Estos procesos, junto con otros como la agrupación temporal, se han denominado "aspectos básicos" o "primitivos", ya que parecen fundamentales para la percepción de secuencias rítmicas simples. En el presente trabajo se hace una revisión de la literatura en la que se describen, sintetizan y relacionan los hallazgos de las investigaciones vinculadas con el procesamiento cognitivo de los aspectos rítmicos básicos (pulso, tempo, metro y acento) con el objeto de especificar ciertas características temporales que facilitan la comprensión psicológica del ritmo. La información presentada se ha obtenido de revistas científicas indexadas y de textos fundamentales en el estudio del procesamiento temporal y rítmico a nivel cognitivo. En relación con el pulso, parece existir consenso en que los seres humanos tienden a la isocronía y a la regularidad, y el espectro de tempo óptimo es aquel que oscila entre 60 y 120 pulsos por minuto. Los niños pequeños tendrían un tempo preferido más rápido. El metro conforma un marco que permite la previsibilidad y organización de los eventos rítmicos futuros, y se evidencia una predisposición de las personas hacia los metros binarios por sobre los ternarios. Los hallazgos presentados en este artículo deben ser considerados en el futuro para promover la comprensión psicológica del ritmo en diversos contextos individuales y/o grupales, especialmente en educación musical.

Abstract Rhythm perception models have studied an important variety of general characteristics of temporal structures and specific elements of musical rhythm, presenting a degree of heterogeneity in study objects. However, most of the research converges in the study of processes related to the listener's detection of an underlying temporal pulse. This, along with other processes such as temporal grouping, have been referred to as basic or primitive aspects, since they seem fundamental to the perception of simple rhythmic sequences. In the present work, a review of the literature in which research findings related to the cognitive processing of basic rhythmic aspects are described, synthesized and related: pulse, tempo, meter and accent. This review aims to specify certain temporal characteristics that facilitate the psychological understanding of rhythm. The information presented has been obtained from scientific journals indexed in Wos and Scopus; from Research Handbook on Education-Musical Cognition and; from fundamental texts in the study of temporal and rhythmic processing at the cognitive level. Among the basic elements that make up the musical rhythm, perhaps the most intrinsic and natural is the pulse. There seems to be consensus that humans, either by processes of enculturation or by biological aspects mainly related to the nervous system, tend to isochronyand regularity. Pulse velocity, called in musical language as tempo, is an important factor to consider when facilitating the processing of rhythmic structures. This is how, the preferred pulse or optimal tempo spectrum for all, regardless of musical formation, age, or personal characteristics; ranges from 60 to 120 pulses or beats per minute (bpm). In addition, recent research findings show that young children have a preferred tempo of 140-150 bpm (400 ms approximately), which is a faster rate for adults: 100 bpm (600 ms approximately). This preference for fast tempi, decreases with age, showing improved responses to a greater diversity of slow and fast tempi thanks to the increase in cognitive and motor development. The meter is another factor that strongly influences the psychological understanding of the rhythm. The meter has been defined as a sequence of regular pulse cycles that include "strong" and "soft" impacts organized at hierarchical levels. It has been proposed that the meter forms a framework for rhythmic expectation that anticipates the central or accented pulse, allowing the predictability and organization of future rhythmic events involved in a fragment or piece of music. This process appears to be automatic and is explained by the brain constantly setting predictions by comparing the previous information accumulated with the sensory stimulus it perceives from the outside. In the context of Western music, a predisposition by listeners towards binary meters (sequences of accented pulses every two, four, etc.) has been proposed rather than to the ternaries (pulse sequences accentuated every three, six, etc.). This has led to hypothesize regarding the existence of improved processing for hierarchical binary relationships in contrast to the more complex or ternary. Finally, the findings presented in this article should be considered in the future to promote psychological understanding of the rhythm in various individual and/or group contexts, especially in formative - musical areas.

Behavioral Perception and Neural Correlates of Categorical Perception in Cochlear Implant Users / 대한이비인후과학회지

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Although many cochlear implant (CI) recipients receive significant benefits from using the implants, speech perception ability is still known to vary among CI users, and the variability is closely related to the ability of users to process temporal information. As one of the important temporal cues for speech perception in CI users, voice onset time (VOT) can be used to examine behavioral perception and neural correlates of temporal processing. In this study, we measured categorical perception and N1-P2 cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) using a /ba/-/pa/ VOT continuum in CI users as well as in normal-hearing (NH) listeners. SUBJECTS AND METHOD: Ten CI subjects and 11 NH controls participated in syllable identification tasks and in electroencephalography recording. CI subjects were divided into two groups, which were ‘good’ and ‘poor’ performers based on their speech perception scores. The stimuli used in both experiments were a synthetic /ba/-/pa/ VOT continuum. The identification boundary and N1-P2 peak-to-peak amplitude were measured for each subject group. RESULTS: Behavioral results revealed that poor CI performers had a delayed identification boundary compared to NH listeners and good CI performers. However, N1-P2 peak-to-peak amplitudes in both good and poor CI performers were significantly smaller than those in NH group. CONCLUSION: N1-P2 amplitudes reflected decreased auditory cortical activity of temporal cues in CI users. The categorical perception of good CI performers was similar to that of NH listeners, whereas their cortical responses were decreased to the level similar to that of poor CI performers. This finding indicates that CAEPs would be more sensitive to altered temporal processing of CI users than to behavioral measures.

Effect of conductive hearing loss on central auditory function / Efeito da perda auditiva condutiva na função auditiva central

Abstract Introduction: It has been demonstrated that long-term Conductive Hearing Loss (CHL) may influence the precise detection of the temporal features of acoustic signals or Auditory Temporal Processing (ATP). It can be argued that ATP may be the underlying component of many central auditory processing capabilities such as speech comprehension or sound localization. Little is known about the consequences of CHL on temporal aspects of central auditory processing. Objective: This study was designed to assess auditory temporal processing ability in individuals with chronic CHL. Methods: During this analytical cross-sectional study, 52 patients with mild to moderate chronic CHL and 52 normal-hearing listeners (control), aged between 18 and 45 year-old, were recruited. In order to evaluate auditory temporal processing, the Gaps-in-Noise (GIN) test was used. The results obtained for each ear were analyzed based on the gap perception threshold and the percentage of correct responses. Results: The average of GIN thresholds was significantly smaller for the control group than for the CHL group for both ears (right: p = 0.004; left: p < 0.001). Individuals with CHL had significantly lower correct responses than individuals with normal hearing for both sides (p < 0.001). No correlation was found between GIN performance and degree of hearing loss in either group (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The results suggest reduced auditory temporal processing ability in adults with CHL compared to normal hearing subjects. Therefore, developing a clinical protocol to evaluate auditory temporal processing in this population is recommended.

Resumo Introdução: Já foi demonstrado que a perda auditiva condutiva (PAC), em longo prazo, pode influenciar na detecção precisa das características temporais dos sinais acústicos ou do processamento auditivo temporal (PAT). Pode-se argumentar que o PAT pode ser o componente subjacente de muitos recursos do processamento auditivo central, como a compreensão da fala ou localização do som. Pouco se sabe sobre as consequências da PAC nos aspectos temporais do processamento auditivo central. Objetivo: Este estudo foi projetado para avaliar a capacidade de processamento auditivo temporal em indivíduos com PAC crônica. Método: Durante este estudo transversal analítico, 52 pacientes com PAC crônica leve a moderada e 52 indivíduos com audição normal (controle), entre 18 e 45 anos, foram recrutados. Para avaliar o processamento auditivo temporal, foi usado o teste de resolução temporal Gaps-in-Noise (GIN). Os resultados obtidos para cada orelha foram analisados com base no limiar de percepção da quebra de continuidade (gap) e na porcentagem de respostas corretas. Resultados: A média dos limiares no GIN foi significativamente menor para o grupo controle do que para o grupo PAC em ambas as orelhas (direita: p = 0,004; esquerda: p < 0,001). Os indivíduos com PAC apresentaram respostas corretas significativamente mais baixas do que os indivíduos com audição normal em ambas as orelhas (p < 0,001). Não houve correlação entre o desempenho no GIN e o grau de perda auditiva em ambos os grupos (p > 0,05). Conclusão: Os resultados sugerem uma redução da capacidade de processamento auditivo temporal em adultos com PAC comparados com indivíduos que apresentam audição normal. Portanto, o desenvolvimento de um protocolo clínico para avaliar o processamento auditivo temporal nessa população é recomendado.

Research progress on visual defects of amblyopia / 中华实验眼科杂志

Amhlyopia is a developmental disorder of visual system caused by abnormal visual experiences in critical period,whose characteristic is low monocular or binocular best corrected visual acuity and without ocular organic lesions.With the development of the research,more and more studies showed that amblyopia can not only lead to a reduction in corrected visual acuity,but also accompany by many other visual defects,such as visual crowd effect,impaired spatial contrast sensitivity,decreased vernier acuity,contour integration deficit,orientation discrimination deficit,temporal processing deficit and global processing deficit,which has become a common concern of a social problem.A comprehensive understanding of visual defects in amblyopia is of great significance on the diagnosis and treatment of amblyopia.This paper summarized the research progress of various visual defects of amblyopia,so as to provide references for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of amblyopia.

The hemodynamic response to acoustically modified syllables in premature and full term newborn infants acquired by near infrared spectroscopy / Respuesta hemodinámica a sílabas modificadas acústicamente en recién nacidos prematuros y a término adquirida por espectroscopía del infrarrojo cercano / Resposta hemodinâmica a sílabas modificadas acusticamente em recém-nascidos prematuros e a termo adquirida por espectroscopia do infravermelho próximo

This research assesses, in newborns, the hemodynamic response to acoustically modified syllables (pronounced in a prolonged manner), versus the response to unmodified syllables (pronounced at a normal rate). The aim was to assess which of these stimulation conditions produced better syllable discrimination in two groups of neonates: 13 preterm (mean gestational age 30 weeks, SD 3 weeks), and 13 full term newborns (mean age 38 weeks, SD 1 week). Syllable discrimination, in each condition, was assessed by using an oddball paradigm (equal syllable trials vs. different syllable trials). The statistical analysis was based on the comparison between the hemodynamic response [oxyHbO] obtained by Near Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) to different syllable trials vs. equal syllable trials, in each condition. The modified syllable condition was better in producing trial discrimination in both groups. The amplitude of the hemodynamic response to the different syllable trials was greater than the one to the equal syllable trials: for term infants, t = 2.59, p = 0.024, and for preterm t = 2.38, p = 0.035. This finding occurred in the left temporal lobe. These data suggest that the modified syllables facilitate processing of phonemes from birth.

Esta investigación evalúa, en neonatos, la respuesta hemodinámica ante sílabas modificadas acústicamente (pronunciadas de manera prolongada) en comparación con la respuesta a sílabas no modificadas (pronunciadas a una velocidad normal). El objetivo fue evaluar cuál de estas condiciones de estimulación producía una mejor discriminación silábica en dos grupos de neonatos: 13 prematuros (edad gestacional promedio de 30 semanas, DE 3 semanas) y 13 nacidos a término (edad gestacional promedio de 38 semanas, DE 1 semana). La discriminación de sílabas, en cada condición, se evaluó mediante un paradigma oddball (ensayos con sílabas iguales vs. ensayos con sílaba diferente). El análisis estadístico se basó en la comparación de la respuesta hemodinámica [oxyHb] obtenida por espectroscopia de infrarrojo cercano (NIRS) ante ensayos con sílabas iguales Vs. ensayos con una sílaba diferente en cada condición. Se encontró que la condición de sílabas modificadas obtuvo mejores resultados para la discriminación entre ensayos en ambos grupos. La amplitud de la respuesta hemodinámica ante el ensayo con una sílaba diferente fue significativamente mayor que ante el ensayo con sílabas iguales: en recién nacidos a término, t = 2,59, p = 0,024 y en los prematuros, t = 2,38, p = 0,035. Este hallazgo ocurrió en el lóbulo temporal izquierdo. Estos datos sugieren que las sílabas modificadas facilitan el procesamiento de fonemas desde el nacimiento.

Esta pesquisa avalia, em neonatos, a resposta hemodinâmica diante sílabas modificadas acusticamente (pronunciadas de maneira prolongada) em comparação com a resposta a sílabas não modificadas (pronunciadas a uma velocidade normal). O objetivo foi avaliar qual destas condições de estimulação produzia uma melhor discriminação silábica em dois grupos de neonatos: 13 prematuros (idade gestacional média de 30 semanas, DE 3 semanas) e 13 nascidos a termo (idade gestacional média de 38 semanas, DE 1 semana). A discriminação de sílabas, em cada condição, foi avaliada mediante um paradigma oddball (ensaios com sílabas iguais vs. ensaios com sílaba diferente). A análise estadística se baseou na comparação da resposta hemodinâmica [oxyHb] obtida por espectroscopia de infravermelho próximo (NIRS) ante ensaios com sílabas iguais Vs. ensaios com uma sílaba diferente em cada condição. Encontrou-se que a condição de sílabas modificadas obteve melhores resultados para a discriminação entre ensaios em ambos os grupos. A amplitude da resposta hemodinâmica ante o ensaio com uma sílaba diferente foi significativamente maior que perante o ensaio com sílabas iguais: em recém-nascidos a termo, t = 2,59, p = 0,024 e nos prematuros, t = 2,38, p = 0,035. Este descobrimento ocorreu no lóbulo temporal esquerdo. Estes dados sugerem que as sílabas modificadas facilitam o processamento de fonemas desde o nascimento.

Estructuras cerebrales implicadas en el procesamiento temporal / Brain structures involved in temporal processing

El tiempo siempre ha sido una constante regulatoria del comportamiento humano. Durante las últimas dos décadas, la neurociencia ha buscado las bases biológicas al igual que la localización específica de estructuras o sistemas que el cerebro humano utilice en la ejecución, interpretación o retención de procesamientos temporales. La presente revisión reúne gran parte de los estudios actuales enfocados en la ubicación de las estructuras que involucran lapsos de retención, cronometraje o procesamiento temporal, reportando evidencia respecto a diversas estructuras involucradas, como lo son los ganglios basales; en la activación del putamen respecto a conteos dentro de respuestas motoras; Al cerebelo, en relación a intervalos de duración relativamente breves de tiempo, que van desde 300, 400, 600 y 800 ms, hasta 1-2 o 12-24 segundos; En la relación entre amígdala y corteza insular, en la ejecución de cronometraje controlado; En corteza frontal/pre-frontal, asociado a períodos breves (menores a 1 s) o al menor rendimiento de procesos atencionales o de memoria, propios del funcionamiento ejecutivo; y corteza parietal, asociada a la comparación consiente de las duraciones en rango de segundos (intervalos de 1 s) en relación a señales auditivas y visuales, así como en la codificación espacial y el procesamiento de cantidades numéricas. La localización de estas estructuras es la base para el desarrollo de modelos de estudio e integración de sistemas cada vez más precisos respecto a cómo el cerebro humano interpreta el tiempo...

Time has always been a constant regulatory human behavior. During the past two decades, neuroscience has sought the biological basis as the specific location of structures or systems that use the human brain in the execution, interpretation or retention of time processing. The present revision gathers much of the current research focused on the location of structures that involve retention periods, timing or temporal processing, reporting evidence regarding various structures involved, such as the basal ganglia, in the putamen regarding activation counts within motor responses; The cerebellum, in relation to a relatively short duration intervals of time, ranging from 300, 400, 600 and 800 ms, 1-2 or 12-24 seconds; In the relationship between amygdale and insular cortex, in performing timing control; In frontal/prefrontal cortex, associated with brief periods (less than 1-s) or lower yield of attention or memory processing, typical of executive functioning; And parietal cortex associated consents comparison of durations in seconds range (1-s intervals) in relation to auditory and visual cues, as well as spatial encoding and processing numerical quantities. The location of these structures is the basis for the development of study models and integration systems increasingly accurate as to how the human brain interprets the time...

Facilitatory effects of an auditory warning stimulus in a visual location identification task and a visual shape identification task

The occurrence of a weak auditory warning stimulus increases the speed of the response to a subsequent visual target stimulus that must be identified. This facilitatory effect has been attributed to the temporal expectancy automatically induced by the warning stimulus. It has not been determined whether this results from a modulation of the stimulus identification process, the response selection process or both. The present study examined these possibilities. A group of 12 young adults performed a reaction time location identification task and another group of 12 young adults performed a reaction time shape identification task. A visual target stimulus was presented 1850 to 2350 ms plus a fixed interval (50, 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600 ms, depending on the block) after the appearance of a fixation point, on its left or right side, above or below a virtual horizontal line passing through it. In half of the trials, a weak auditory warning stimulus (S1) appeared 50, 100, 200, 400, 800, or 1600 ms (according to the block) before the target stimulus (S2). Twelve trials were run for each condition. The S1 produced a facilitatory effect for the 200, 400, 800, and 1600 ms stimulus onset asynchronies (SOA) in the case of the side stimulus-response (S-R) corresponding condition, and for the 100 and 400 ms SOA in the case of the side S-R non-corresponding condition. Since these two conditions differ mainly by their response selection requirements, it is reasonable to conclude that automatic temporal expectancy influences the response selection process.

Efectos de la edad sobre el procesamiento auditivo / Effect of aging on auditory processing

En la actualidad existe un cúmulo de información teórica y experimental sobre los cambios de la percepción del habla relacionado con las edades. Se ha establecido que esta dificultad en la comunicación producto de la edad se debería a tres grandes factores; a) déficit de las habilidades cognitivas, b) cambios en la función auditiva periférica y c) cambios en una o más de las funciones auditivas centrales. Si bien es cierto la pérdida auditiva generada con la edad (presbiacusia) es responsable en parte de estas dificultades, no es posible atribuirle a solo este factor los déficits observados en poblaciones de mayor edad. Es posible evidenciar alteraciones en la representación neural de la información acústica, en especial cuando asta es de mayor complejidad como lo podría ser el habla, a su vez tambi6n es posible observar alteraciones en las funciones auditivas y esto evidenciado a través de las pruebas conductuales, como aquellas que utilizan el escucha dicótica. Por lo anterior es importante considerar estos efectos al momento de planificar el proceso de rehabilitación de un adulto mayor.

There is theoretical and experimental information on changes in speech perception related to the age. It has been established that this dufficulty in communication due to aging is due to three main factors: a) cognitive skills, b) changes in peripheral auditory function and c) changes in one or more of the central auditory functions. Although hearing loss generated with age (presbycusis) is partly responsible for these difficulties is not possible to attribute to this factor alone deficits observed in older populations. It is possible for alterations in the neural representation of acoustic information especially when it is more complex as speech, it is also possible to observe changes in auditory functions evidenced through behavioral tests such as those using dichotic listening. Therefore it is important to consider these effects when planning the rehabilitation in elderly.

Lateral interactions in visual perception of temporal signals: cortical and subcortical components

The aim of this work was to isolate and investigate subcortical and cortical lateral interactions involved in flicker perception. We quantified the perceived flicker strength (PFS) in the center of a test stimulus which was simultaneously modulated with a surround stimulus (50 percent Michelson contrast in both stimuli). Subjects were requested to adjust the modulation depth of a separate matching stimulus that was physically identical to the center of the test stimulus but without the surround. Using LCD goggles, synchronized to the frame rate of a CRT screen, the center and surround could be presented monoptically or dichoptically. In the monoptic condition, center-surround interactions can have both subcortical and cortical origins. In the dichoptic condition, center-surround interactions cannot occur in the retina and the LGN, therefore isolating a cortical mechanism. Results revealed both a strong monoptic (subcortical plus cortical) lateral interaction and a weaker dichoptic (cortical) lateral interaction. Subtraction of the dichoptic from the monoptic data revealed a subcortical mechanism of the lateral interaction. While the modulation of the cortical PFS component showed a low-pass temporal-frequency tuning, the modulation of the subcortical PFS component was maximal at 6 Hz. These findings are consistent with two separate temporal channels influencing the monoptic PFS, each with distinct lateral interactions strength and frequency tuning characteristics. We conclude that both subcortical and cortical lateral interactions modulate flicker perception.

Temporal Processing in the Auditory System / 대한이비인후과학회지

The auditory system recognized sound waves. The sound waves are longitudinal waves in the air, where the pressure varies in time. It is distinguished as the rapid pressure changes, referred to as 'fine structure', and slower overall changes of amplitude fluctuations, as 'envelope'. The auditory system has a limited ability to follow the time-varying envelope, and this ability is known as 'temporal resolution'. Our auditory system analyzes sound waves in frequency, intensity, and time domain. The understanding about frequency and intensity domain is relatively easy compare to time domain. Hearing threshold is measured by sound intensity in frequency domain. However the speech discrimination and understanding of the sentence in quiet and noise are associated with temporal resolution. So for the comprehensive understanding about the auditory system and hearing ability, we must extend our knowledge to the temporal ability of the auditory system.

How auditory temporal processing deficits relate to dyslexia

Studies have shown that dyslexic children present a deficiency in the temporal processing of auditory stimuli applied in rapid succession. However, discussion continues concerning the way this deficiency can be influenced by temporal variables of auditory processing tests. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to analyze by auditory temporal processing tests the effect of temporal variables such as interstimulus intervals, stimulus duration and type of task on dyslexic children compared to a control group. Of the 60 children evaluated, 33 were dyslexic (mean age = 10.5 years) and 27 were normal controls (mean age = 10.8 years). Auditory processing tests assess the abilities of discrimination and ordering of stimuli in relation to their duration and frequency. Results showed a significant difference in the average accuracy of control and dyslexic groups considering each variable (interstimulus intervals: 47.9 ± 5.5 vs 37.18 ± 6.0; stimulus duration: 61.4 ± 7.6 vs 50.9 ± 9.0; type of task: 59.9 ± 7.9 vs 46.5 ± 9.0) and the dyslexic group demonstrated significantly lower performance in all situations. Moreover, there was an interactive effect between the group and the duration of stimulus variables for the frequency-pattern tests, with the dyslexic group demonstrating significantly lower results for short durations (53.4 ± 8.2 vs 48.4 ± 11.1), as opposed to no difference in performance for the control group (62.2 ± 7.1 vs 60.6 ± 7.9). These results support the hypothesis that associates dyslexia with auditory temporal processing, identifying the stimulus-duration variable as the only one that unequally influenced the performance of the two groups.