Neurophysiological correlates of the extraction of linguistically relevant rules from the auditory input during the course of development
Final Report Abstract
In the current project we investigated the extraction of syntax-like dependencies from auditory speech input using the mismatch negativity (MMN) paradigm. To test the neurophysiological basis of this ability we measured EEG in infants, children and adults as well as combined EEG/NIRS in one of the infant studies. As testing material served non-adjacent dependencies between syllables of the structure AXB whereby A predicted B while X was variable. Such structures are interesting for language acquisition research as natural language processing critically depends on the ability to analyze distant relationships.The interesting result of this first set of studies was that a) 3-month-old infants outperformed adults in the learning of grammatical dependencies and b) the ability to learn grammatical dependencies was linked to basic auditory processes (i.e. pitch discrimination). Subsequent studies with older children revealed that during the course of development, the ability to extract non-adjacent dependencies automatically remains stable at least until the age of 4 years, while adults do not evidence any ERP learning effect under passive listening conditions. However, adults can become successful learners if the syllable stimuli that encode the to-be-learned regularity are phonetically more salient. Finally, a combined EEG/NIRS study with 3-month-olds, which was planned to investigate the neurophysiological underpinnings of non-adjacent dependency learning in early infancy, partially failed due to technical/procedural difficulties, even though the finding of non-adjacent dependency learning in 3-month olds could be replicated with different stimulus materials using ERPs. In sum, the project could show for the first time a direct link between basic perceptual processes and interindividual variations in on-line learning of a complex rule using an extension of the classic MMN paradigm. The experimental approach and the results will stipulate further research on the perceptual basis of language learning and its developmental changes and even may have implications for applied science. Further research should aim, for example, to specify a) if link between pitch perception and rule learning extends to other auditory features, b) if the rule learning mechanisms is specific for speech stimuli and c) if and how such artificial grammar studies relate to natural language learning/processing mechanisms. Up to now, the project has led to 1 publication in the renowned international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America which also yielded some echo in public media, e.g. Spiegel online, Die Welt, and Schweizer Rundfunk (SRF).
Publications
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(2011). Basic auditory processing predicts rule learning in early infancy. 11. International Conference on Cognitive Neuroscience, ICON, September 2011, Palma, Spain
Mueller, J. L., Friederici, A. D. & Männel, C.
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(2011). Eine EKP-Studie zum Lernen positionaler Regeln im Alter von 3 Monaten. 53. Tagung experimentell arbeitender Psychologen (TeaP2011), Halle, April, 2011
Mueller, J. L., Friederici, A. D. & Maennel, C.
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(2012). Auditory perception at the root of language learning. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 109(39), 15953–15958
Mueller, J. L., Friederici, A. D., & Männel, C.
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(2012). Learning of nonadjacent dependencies between syllables in the passive oddball-paradigm. 6th Conference on the Mismatch Negativity (MMN) and its clinical and scientific applications, May 2012, New York
Mueller, J.L., Männel, C., Hasting, A. & Friederici, A. D.
