# Flexible representation of speech in human auditory cortex

> **NIH NIH F32** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2022 · $33,485

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The mapping from acoustics to linguistically relevant speech categories is not fixed; rather, speech recognition
adapts to listening context. For example, the utterances bear and pear differ by as many as 16 spectrotemporal
acoustic dimensions. The relative importance (i.e., the perceptual weight) of each of these acoustic dimensions
in signaling bear vs. pear changes with contextual factors like whether the listening environment is quiet or
noisy and whether the talker speaks in a native or unfamiliar accent. This flexibility or adaptive plasticity is an
important component of how the brain maintains robust speech perception despite considerable variation in
speech acoustics. Indeed, inflexible sensory processing is implicated as a source of perceptual deficits in both
hearing impairment and neurological disorders. Yet, the neural mechanisms underlying adaptive plasticity in
speech perception are poorly understood. To address this gap, the proposed research will leverage access
deep within human auditory cortex obtained through intracerebral stereotactic electroencephalography (sEEG),
by employing sEEG simultaneously with scalp electroencephalography (EEG) and well-established behavioral
tasks for measuring adaptive plasticity. Aim 1 will invoke adaptive plasticity in speech perception with acoustic
noise or a change in short-term input distributions mimicking an ‘accent’ and will relate behavioral changes in
the perceptual weights of acoustic dimensions relative to baseline (i.e., clear speech) to changes in the neural
response profile across the auditory cortical hierarchy. Aim 2 will quantify the relationships between sEEG and
EEG to establish the extent to which intracerebral signatures of adaptive plasticity relate to scalp EEG
signatures measurable in the general population; this will also facilitate region-specific interpretation of EEG.
The work will provide novel insight into the cortical mechanisms of adaptive plasticity in speech perception,
with implications for neurobiological models and clinical applications. Our innovative combination of
simultaneous scalp EEG with spatially specific, high signal-to-noise ratio sEEG will create a highly informative
link across noninvasive and intracranial electrophysiology. Project completion also will provide the applicant
with training in cognitive neuroscience of speech perception, intracerebral electrophysiology, and approaches
to effectively integrate intracerebral and scalp EEG. This training will complement her strong
engineering/quantitative background and Ph.D. training in auditory temporal coding, scene analysis, and EEG.
This will advance her goal of undertaking a successful independent academic research career in the
neuroscience of human audition and speech perception.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10605606
- **Project number:** 1F32DC020649-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** Vibha Viswanathan
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $33,485
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-12-01 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10605606

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10605606, Flexible representation of speech in human auditory cortex (1F32DC020649-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10605606. Licensed CC0.

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