Biology subjects

Goswami, U.

Publications and source records attributed to Goswami, U..

17 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2026

Impaired cortical encoding of prosodic prominence in single multisyllabic words for adults with dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is associated with impaired cortical tracking of continuous speech and difficulties in perceiving within-word prosodic structure in children and adults. For adults and continuous speech, both low-frequency delta- and theta-band impairments and high-frequency gamma- and beta-band differences are found. To date, perceptual difficulties with intra-word prosody have not been studied in direct relation to neural speech encoding. Here neurotypical adults and adults with dyslexia listened to multisyllabic words. EEG was recorded, and cortical encoding was quantified using temporal response function (TRF) modelling. Four speech representations were explored: lexical stress pattern (intra-word prosodic prominence), the low-frequency speech envelope, word onsets and syllable onsets. Adults with dyslexia showed significantly reduced encoding of intra-word prosodic prominence (delta band) and of the speech envelope (delta and theta bands). In contrast, encoding of word and syllable onsets was preserved. Pinpointing delta-band cortical tracking as central to encoding intra-word prosodic prominence opens new avenues for research.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Computing the geometry of phase-amplitude coupling: A new moment-based framework

Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) is widely used to quantify interactions between neural oscillations, yet cannot establish whether two coupling profiles share the same geometry, phase polarity or modal structure. Here we demonstrate that commonly-used PAC metrics constitute many-to-one mappings from phase-amplitude distributions to low-dimensional summaries. This results in distinct coupling geometries yielding identical PAC values. We propose formalising PAC as a hierarchy of representations, introducing a circular-moment decomposition that preserves richer geometric information. Simulations demonstrate that distinct coupling geometries produce identical Modulation Index (MI) values. Analyses of EEG data acquired during adult language listening reveal substantial geometric variability among PAC profiles with matched MI values, validating the moment-based approach. Applied to a child-language dataset, the framework identifies differences in phase geometry of delta-low gamma PAC in children with developmental language disorder, potentially uniting competing neuroscientific theories. We propose a representation-selection framework for future PAC research.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Slow-Rate Temporal Sampling Deficits During Naturalistic Speech Listening in Children with Developmental Language Disorder

Neural tracking of slow temporal modulations in speech supports extraction of prosodic and syllabic structure critical for speech comprehension, yet whether these automatic cortical tracking mechanisms are altered in children with developmental language disorder (DLD) remains unclear. We recorded MEG while children with and without DLD listened to a story, and quantified source-level lagged speech-brain coherence and frequency-specific cortical functional connectivity across bilateral cortical regions. Children with DLD showed significantly reduced coherence in the 0.9-2.5 Hz range associated with prosodic information in the story, spanning bilateral auditory and speech-related cortex. In the 2.5-5 Hz range, linked to syllabic-rate modulations in the story, group differences were right-lateralised. No reliable differences were observed at higher modulation rates (5-9 Hz or 12-40 Hz). These coherence reductions were accompanied by altered functional connectivity between cortical regions across all frequency bands, indicating disrupted large-scale coordination within speech-processing networks in DLD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Atypical cortical encoding of the low-frequency temporal dynamics of natural speech identifies children with Developmental Language Disorder

Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that causes significant difficulties in understanding and using spoken language. Here we use electroencephalography (EEG) recorded during natural speech listening with 9-year-old children to identify dynamic neural processing patterns that characterize children with DLD compared to typically-developing age-matched controls. We applied Principal Components Analysis (PCA) to identify spatial ensembles of channels that represented distinct (uncorrelated) sources of cortical activity, and explored phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) between delta (0.5-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz) and low-gamma (25-40 Hz) oscillations. We then isolated EEG common spatial patterns (CSP) that identified children with DLD. The PAC analyses identified the delta band as a key source of group differences, and only delta-low gamma PAC differed significantly between participant groups. The CSP analyses also identified the delta band as a key mechanistic source of group differences. The findings are suggestive of distinct atypical low-frequency neural dynamics during speech encoding for children with DLD, which could be targeted by novel interventions.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Neural processing of natural speech by adults with and without dyslexia: Evidence for atypical cortical decoding of speech information in the delta and theta EEG bands

Neural oscillations in the delta (0.5-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) bands play a key role in tracking the temporal structure of speech. According to Temporal Sampling (TS) theory, dyslexia arises from atypical entrainment of these low-frequency oscillations to speech during infancy and childhood, which is particularly disruptive regarding phonological encoding. However, studies of adults with dyslexia have rarely examined both delta and theta cortical tracking under naturalistic listening conditions, and have not measured delta-band cortical tracking. Using EEG, here we focused on delta and theta band cortical tracking continuous natural speech by adults with and without dyslexia, applying a decoding analysis previously used with dyslexic children. Forty-eight English-speaking adults (24 dyslexic, 24 control) listened to a 16-minute continuous spoken narrative while EEG was recorded. Neural decoding of the speech envelope was quantified using backward multivariate Temporal Response Function (mTRF) models applied at two levels: a between-group analysis evaluating group-level differences in neural representation patterns, and a within-participant analysis assessing individual decoding accuracy. Cerebro-acoustic coherence was computed in parallel to provide a complementary measure of neural-speech synchronisation. Additional analyses examined band power, cross-frequency phase-amplitude coupling (PAC), and cross-frequency phase-phase coupling (PPC). Dyslexic adults exhibited less accurate delta- and theta-band decoding in the between-group analysis and reduced theta-band decoding accuracy in the within-participant analysis, alongside reduced coherence in both bands and increased delta-band power, particularly over the right temporal region. No group differences were found for PAC or PPC. HighlightsO_LIAdults with dyslexia showed reduced delta- and theta-band speech decoding C_LIO_LICerebro-acoustic coherence was reduced in delta and theta bands in dyslexia group C_LIO_LIDelta-band power was increased in dyslexia, especially over right temporal region C_LIO_LICross-frequency coupling did not differ between adults with and without dyslexia C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2026

Towards a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI) for Improving Phonological Processing in Developmental Dyslexia: An Exploratory Study

Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) have immense potential regarding the provision of therapies for disorders of development, but to date have typically been created for non-linguistic disorders such as ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder). Here we present a BCI designed to improve linguistic phonological processing during natural speech listening, aimed at participants with developmental dyslexia. Phonological "deficits" are considered a core feature of dyslexia across languages and are present from infancy in those later diagnosed with dyslexia. Here a non-invasive EEG-BCI relying on auditory inputs and visual feedback was developed to optimise brain patterns related to phonological development in infants and children. The BCI focused on neural patterns identified using Temporal Sampling theory, which has found the theta/delta ratio during natural speech listening to be a key neural associate of impaired phonology. As a first step, the BCI was tested with adults. Adults with and without dyslexia played the BCI for 16 sessions, and received pre- and post-testing regarding phonological awareness and single word and nonword reading skills. Learning was assessed both online, as in most BCI studies, and offline, enabling removal of a greater number of potential EEG artifacts. Significant associations between offline BCI scores (a measure of BCI learning) and improvements in nonword reading were found for all participants who learned the BCI, both dyslexic and control. BCI learning also showed significant associations with improvements in real word reading and amplitude rise time discrimination. The data are interpreted with respect to Temporal Sampling theory.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Atypical low-frequency and high-frequency neural entrainment to rhythmic audiovisual speech in adults with dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia has been linked to atypical neural processing of the temporal dynamics of speech, but there has been disagreement concerning whether faster or slower dynamics are impaired. According to the Temporal Sampling (TS) theory, dyslexia arises from impaired entrainment of low-frequency neural oscillations - particularly in the delta (1-4 Hz) and theta (4-8 Hz) bands - to the rhythmic modulations of speech. This hypothesis was tested for adults with and without dyslexia using electroencephalography (EEG) during a rhythmic audiovisual speech paradigm, previously delivered to children. Participants viewed a "talking head" repeating the syllable "ba" at a 2-Hz rate. Measures were neural phase entrainment and band power in the delta, theta, beta (15-25 Hz), and low gamma (25-40 Hz) bands, and broadband event-related potentials (ERPs), focusing on the N1 and P2 components. Phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) and phase-phase coupling (PPC) were also assessed for delta-theta, delta-beta, theta-beta, delta-gamma, and theta-gamma interactions. Both groups exhibited significant delta- and theta-band phase entrainment; however, the two groups differed significantly in the preferred phase for the theta band. While the control group showed consistent beta- and low gamma-band phase entrainment, this was not observed for the dyslexic group. There was significantly greater delta-band power for the dyslexic group across the whole brain and in the right temporal region. Additionally, the P2 ERP component differed significantly between groups. The data are interpreted with respect to TS theory.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2025

Neural processing of natural speech by children with developmental language disorder (DLD): EEG speech decoding, power and classifier investigations

The sensory/neural Temporal Sampling (TS) theory of developmental language disorder (DLD) is based on the sensory and linguistic impairments in rhythm processing that are found in children with both developmental dyslexia (DD) and DLD. These sensory/linguistic impairments include decreased sensitivity to amplitude rise times (ARTs, the sensory triggers related to automatic cortical speech tracking), syllable stress patterns and speech rhythm. At the neural level TS theory predicts impairments in the cortical tracking of different rates of amplitude modulation (AM) in the speech signal <10Hz. To date, the accuracy of low-frequency cortical tracking in natural continuous speech has not been measured in children with DLD. Here, EEG was recorded during story listening from children with and without DLD aged around 9 years, and decoding analyses in the delta, theta and alpha (control) bands were carried out. EEG power was computed in the delta, theta and gamma bands, and phase-amplitude coupling and phase-phase coupling (PAC, PPC) were also computed between bands. Whole-brain analyses showed that the accuracy of low-frequency decoding (delta, theta) did not differ between groups. However, region-specific analyses revealed significantly reduced delta-band speech tracking in the right temporal cortex in the children with DLD. PAC and PPC dynamics did not differ between groups. The data suggest that low-frequency cortical tracking impairments in DLD may be spatially constrained to the right hemisphere rather than globally present as in DD. The data are discussed using TS theory. HighlightsO_LICortical tracking of natural speech is measured in children with and without DLD C_LIO_LIDelta-band tracking is impaired in right temporal regions in children with DLD C_LIO_LICross-frequency coupling dynamics (PAC, PPC) did not differ between groups C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Investigating the 'Atypical Rhythm Risk' hypothesis in children with developmental language disorder using an EEG rhythmic speech paradigm

Sensitivity to rhythmic and prosodic cues in speech has been described as a precursor of language acquisition. Consequently, atypical rhythmic processing during infancy and early childhood has been considered a risk factor for developmental language disorders. Despite many behavioural studies, the neural processing of rhythmic speech has not yet been explored in children with developmental language disorder (DLD). Here we utilise EEG to investigate the neural processing of rhythmic speech by 9-year-old children with and without DLD. In the current study, we investigate phase entrainment, angular velocity, power, event related potentials (ERPs), phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) and phase-phase coupling (PPC), at three frequency bands selected on the basis of the prior literature, delta, theta and low gamma. We predicted a different phase of entrainment in the delta band in children with DLD, and also greater theta power, atypical cross-frequency coupling and possibly atypical gamma-band responses. Contrary to prediction, children with DLD demonstrated significant and equivalent phase entrainment in the delta and theta bands to control children. However, only the control children showed significant phase entrainment in the low gamma band. The children with DLD also exhibited significantly more theta and low gamma power compared to the control children, and there was a significant gamma-band difference in angular velocity between the two groups. Finally, group resultant phase analyses showed that low-frequency phase (delta and theta) affected gamma oscillations differently by group. These EEG data show important differences between children with and without DLD in the neural mechanisms underpinning the processing of rhythmic speech. The findings are discussed in terms of auditory theories of DLD, particularly Temporal Sampling theory.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2023

Atypical beta-band effects in children with dyslexia in response to rhythmic audio-visual speech

Children with dyslexia are known to show impairments in perceiving speech rhythm, which impact their phonological development. Neural rhythmic speech studies have reported atypical delta phase in children with dyslexia, but beta band effects have not yet been studied. It is known that delta phase modulates the amplitude of the beta band response during rhythmic tasks via delta-beta phase-amplitude coupling (PAC). Accordingly, the atypical delta band effects reported for children with dyslexia may imply related atypical beta band effects. Here we analyse EEG data collected during a rhythmic speech paradigm from 51 children (21 typically-developing; 30 with dyslexia) who attended to a talking head repeating "ba" at 2Hz. Phase entrainment in the beta band, angular velocity in the beta band, power responses in the beta band and delta-beta PAC were assessed for each child and each group. Phase entrainment in the beta band was only significant for children without dyslexia. Children with dyslexia did not exhibit any phase consistency, and beta-band angular velocity was significantly faster compared to control children. Power in the beta band was significantly greater in the children with dyslexia. Delta-beta PAC was significant in both groups. The data are interpreted with respect to temporal sampling theory.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Infant low-frequency EEG cortical power, cortical tracking and phase-amplitude coupling predicts language a year later.

Cortical signals have been shown to track acoustic and linguistic properties of continuous speech. This phenomenon has been measured in both children and adults, reflecting speech understanding by adults as well as cognitive functions such as attention and prediction. Furthermore, atypical low-frequency cortical tracking of speech is found in children with phonological difficulties (developmental dyslexia). Accordingly, low-frequency cortical signals may play a critical role in language acquisition. A recent investigation with infants Attaheri et al., 2022 (1) probed cortical tracking mechanisms at the ages of 4, 7 and 11 months as participants listened to sung speech. Results from temporal response function (TRF), phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) and dynamic theta-delta power (PSD) analyses indicated speech envelope tracking and stimulus-related power (PSD) for delta and theta neural signals. Furthermore, delta- and theta-driven PAC was found at all ages, with theta phases displaying stronger PAC with high-frequency amplitudes than delta. The present study tests whether these previous findings replicate in the second half of the full cohort of infants (N = 122) who were participating in this longitudinal study (first half: N=61, (1); second half: N=61). In addition to demonstrating good replication, we investigate whether cortical tracking in the first year of life predicts later language acquisition for the full cohort (122 infants recruited, 113 retained) using both infant-led and parent-estimated measures and multivariate and univariate analyses. Increased delta cortical tracking in the univariate analyses, increased [~]2Hz PSD power and stronger theta-gamma PAC in both multivariate and univariate analyses were related to better language outcomes using both infant-led and parent-estimated measures. By contrast, increased [~]4Hz PSD power in the multi-variate analyses, increased delta-beta PAC and a higher theta/delta power ratio in the multi-variate analyses were related to worse language outcomes. The data are interpreted within a "Temporal Sampling" framework for developmental language trajectories.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Atypical cortical encoding of speech identifies children with Dyslexia versus Developmental Language Disorder

Slow cortical oscillations play a crucial role in processing the speech envelope, which is perceived atypically by children with Developmental Language Disorder (DLD) and developmental dyslexia. Here we use electroencephalography (EEG) and natural speech listening paradigms to identify neural processing patterns that characterize dyslexic versus DLD children. Using a story listening paradigm, we show that atypical power dynamics and phase-amplitude coupling between delta and theta oscillations characterize dyslexic and DLD children groups, respectively. We further identify EEG common spatial patterns (CSP) during speech listening across delta, theta and beta oscillations describing dyslexic versus DLD children. A linear classifier using four deltaband CSP variables predicted dyslexia status (0.77 AUC). Crucially, these spatial patterns also identified children with dyslexia in a rhythmic syllable task EEG, suggesting a core developmental deficit in neural processing of speech rhythm. These findings suggest that there are distinct atypical neurocognitive mechanisms underlying dyslexia and DLD.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Emergence of the cortical encoding of phonetic features in the first year of life

Even prior to producing their first words, infants are developing a sophisticated speech processing system, with robust word recognition present by 4-6 months of age. These emergent linguistic skills, observed with behavioural investigations, are likely to rely on increasingly sophisticated neural underpinnings. The infant brain is known to robustly track the speech envelope, however to date no cortical tracking study could investigate the emergence of phonetic feature encoding. Here we utilise temporal response functions computed from electrophysiological responses to nursery rhymes to investigate the cortical encoding of phonetic features in a longitudinal cohort of infants when aged 4, 7 and 11 months, as well as adults. The analyses reveal an increasingly detailed and acoustically-invariant phonetic encoding over the first year of life, providing the first direct evidence that the pre-verbal human cortex learns phonetic categories. By 11 months of age, however, infants still did not exhibit adult-like encoding.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Atypical speech production of multisyllabic words by children with developmental dyslexia

The prevalent core phonological deficit model of dyslexia proposes that the reading and spelling difficulties characterizing affected children stem from prior developmental difficulties in processing speech sound structure, for example perceiving and identifying syllable stress patterns, syllables, rhymes and phonemes. Yet spoken word production appears normal. This suggests an unexpected disconnect between speech input and speech output processes. Here we investigated the output side of this disconnect from a speech rhythm perspective by measuring the speech amplitude envelope (AE) of multisyllabic spoken phrases. The speech AE contains crucial information regarding stress patterns, speech rate, tonal contrasts and intonational information. We created a novel computerized speech copying task in which participants copied aloud familiar spoken targets like "Aladdin". Seventy-five children with and without dyslexia were tested, some of whom were also receiving an oral intervention designed to enhance multi-syllabic processing. Similarity of the childs productions to the target AE was computed using correlation and mutual information metrics. Similarity of pitch contour, another acoustic cue to speech rhythm, was used for control analyses. Children with dyslexia were significantly worse at producing the multi-syllabic targets as indexed by both similarity metrics for computing the AE. However, children with dyslexia were not different from control children in producing pitch contours. Accordingly, the spoken production of multisyllabic phrases by children with dyslexia is atypical regarding the AE. Children with dyslexia may not appear to listeners to exhibit speech production difficulties because their pitch contours are intact. Research HighlightsO_LISpeech production of syllable stress patterns is atypical in children with dyslexia. C_LIO_LIChildren with dyslexia are significantly worse at producing the amplitude envelope of multi-syllabic targets compared to both age-matched and reading-level-matched control children. C_LIO_LINo group differences were found for pitch contour production between children with dyslexia and age-matched control children. C_LIO_LIIt may be difficult to detect speech output problems in dyslexia as pitch contours are relatively accurate. C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2022

Decoding of Speech Information using EEG in Children with Dyslexia: Less Accurate Low-Frequency Representations of Speech, Not "Noisy" Representations

The amplitude envelope of speech carries crucial low-frequency acoustic information that assists linguistic decoding. The sensory-neural Temporal Sampling (TS) theory of developmental dyslexia proposes atypical encoding of speech envelope information <10 Hz, leading to atypical phonological representations. Here a backward linear TRF model and story listening were employed to estimate the speech information encoded in the electroencephalogram in the canonical delta, theta and alpha bands by 9-year-old children with and without dyslexia. TRF decoding accuracy provided an estimate of how faithfully the childrens brains encoded low-frequency envelope information. Between-group analyses showed that the children with dyslexia exhibited impaired reconstruction of speech information in the delta band. However, when the quality of speech encoding for each child was estimated using child-by-child decoding models, then the dyslexic children did not differ from controls. This suggests that children with dyslexia encode neither "noisy" nor "normal" representations of the speech signal, but different representations.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

Delta- and theta-band cortical tracking and phase-amplitude coupling to sung speech by infants

The amplitude envelope of speech carries crucial low-frequency acoustic information that assists linguistic decoding at multiple time scales. Neurophysiological signals are known to track the amplitude envelope of adult-directed speech (ADS), particularly in the theta-band. Acoustic analysis of infant-directed speech (IDS) has revealed significantly greater modulation energy than ADS in an amplitude-modulation (AM) band centered on [~]2 Hz. Accordingly, cortical tracking of IDS by delta-band neural signals may be key to language acquisition. Speech also contains acoustic information within its higher-frequency bands (beta, gamma). Adult EEG and MEG studies reveal an oscillatory hierarchy, whereby low-frequency (delta, theta) neural phase dynamics temporally organize the amplitude of high-frequency signals (phase amplitude coupling, PAC). Whilst consensus is growing around the role of PAC in the matured adult brain, its role in the development of speech processing is unexplored. Here, we examined the presence and maturation of low-frequency (<12 Hz) cortical speech tracking in infants by recording EEG longitudinally from 60 participants when aged 4-, 7- and 11-months as they listened to nursery rhymes. After establishing stimulus-related neural signals in delta and theta, cortical tracking at each age was assessed in the delta, theta and alpha [control] bands using a multivariate temporal response function (mTRF) method. Delta-beta, delta-gamma, theta-beta and theta-gamma phase-amplitude coupling (PAC) was also assessed. Significant delta and theta but not alpha tracking was found. Significant PAC was present at all ages, with both delta and theta -driven coupling observed. Graphical abstract O_FIG O_LINKSMALLFIG WIDTH=200 HEIGHT=118 SRC="FIGDIR/small/329326v4_ufig1.gif" ALT="Figure 1"> View larger version (25K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@c7c7feorg.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1afa39org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@121d616org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@6e7c7b_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG HighlightsO_LILongitudinal EEG study in which 4, 7- & 11-month infants listened to nursery rhymes C_LIO_LIWe demonstrate cortical speech tracking via delta & theta neural signals (mTRF) C_LIO_LIPeriodogram (PSD) analysis revealed stimulus related delta & theta PSD peaks C_LIO_LIDelta and theta driven phase amplitude coupling (PAC) was found at all ages C_LIO_LIGamma frequency amplitudes displayed stronger PAC to low frequency phases than beta C_LI

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2020

The Hierarchical Structure of Temporal Modulations in Music is Universal across Genres and matches Infant-Directed Speech.

Statistical learning by the human brain plays a core role in the development of cognitive systems like language and music. Both music and speech have structured inherent rhythms, however the acoustic sources of these rhythms are debated. Theoretically, rhythm structures in both systems may be related to a novel set of acoustic statistics embedded in the amplitude envelope, statistics originally revealed by modelling childrens nursery rhymes. Here we apply similar modelling to explore whether the amplitude modulation (AM) timescales underlying rhythm in music match those in child-directed speech (CDS). Utilising AM-driven phase hierarchy modelling previously applied to infant-directed speech (IDS), adult-directed speech (ADS) and CDS, we test whether the physical stimulus characteristics that yield speech rhythm in IDS and CDS describe rhythm in music. Two models were applied. One utilized a low-dimensional representation of the auditory signal adjusted for known mechanisms of the human cochlear, and the second utilized probabilistic amplitude demodulation, estimating the modulator (envelope) and carriers using Bayesian inference. Both models revealed a similar hierarchically-nested temporal modulation structure across Western musical genres and instruments. Core bands of AM and spectral patterning matched prior analyses of IDS and CDS, and music showed strong phase dependence between slower bands of AMs, again matching IDS and CDS. This phase dependence is critical to the perception of rhythm. Control analyses modelling other natural sounds (wind, rain, storms, rivers) did not show similar temporal modulation structures and phase dependencies. We conclude that acoustic rhythm in language and music has a shared statistical basis.

developmental biology↗