Musicianship and Tone Language Experience Are Associated with Differential Changes in Brain Signal Variability

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (12) ◽  
pp. 2044-2058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefanie Hutka ◽  
Sarah M. Carpentier ◽  
Gavin M. Bidelman ◽  
Sylvain Moreno ◽  
Anthony R. McIntosh
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Information Integration ◽  
Auditory Processing ◽  
Speech Sound ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Language Experience ◽  
Pitch Processing ◽  
Tone Language ◽  
Information Processing Capacity ◽  
Signal Variability

Musicianship has been associated with auditory processing benefits. It is unclear, however, whether pitch processing experience in nonmusical contexts, namely, speaking a tone language, has comparable associations with auditory processing. Studies comparing the auditory processing of musicians and tone language speakers have shown varying degrees of between-group similarity with regard to perceptual processing benefits and, particularly, nonlinguistic pitch processing. To test whether the auditory abilities honed by musicianship or speaking a tone language differentially impact the neural networks supporting nonlinguistic pitch processing (relative to timbral processing), we employed a novel application of brain signal variability (BSV) analysis. BSV is a metric of information processing capacity and holds great potential for understanding the neural underpinnings of experience-dependent plasticity. Here, we measured BSV in electroencephalograms of musicians, tone language-speaking nonmusicians, and English-speaking nonmusicians (controls) during passive listening of music and speech sound contrasts. Although musicians showed greater BSV across the board, each group showed a unique spatiotemporal distribution in neural network engagement: Controls had greater BSV for speech than music; tone language-speaking nonmusicians showed the opposite effect; musicians showed similar BSV for both domains. Collectively, results suggest that musical and tone language pitch experience differentially affect auditory processing capacity within the cerebral cortex. However, information processing capacity is graded: More experience with pitch is associated with greater BSV when processing this cue. Higher BSV in musicians may suggest increased information integration within the brain networks subserving speech and music, which may be related to their well-documented advantages on a wide variety of speech-related tasks.

scholarly journals Electrophysiological Measure of Impaired Information Processing in Drivers with Hematological Malignancy

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (37) ◽  
pp. 64-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
David E. Anderson ◽  
Vijaya R. Bhatt ◽  
Kendra Schmid ◽  
Matthew Lunning ◽  
Sarah A. Holstein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Visual Search ◽  
Automobile Driving ◽  
Small Sample ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Brain Physiology ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Information Processing Capacity ◽  
Cohen’S D ◽  
Cohen's D

The broad goal of this study is to measure remote effects of cancer on brain physiology and behaviors that underpin instrumental activities of daily living such as automobile driving. Studies of hematological malignancies (HM) have demonstrated impairments in multiple brain functions shown to be critical for safe automobile driving. In the current pilot study, brain physiology during driving simulation was examined in 14 HM patients and 13 healthy comparison drivers. Electroencephalography was used to measure the eye fixation-related potential (EFRP)—a positive amplitude deflection evoked approximately 100 milliseconds after eye movement termination. Previous studies have demonstrated sensitivity of EFRP activity to information-processing capacity. All drivers completed visual search tasks to evaluate the relationship between driving-related changes in performance and EFRP activity. Results showed smaller EFRP amplitudes in drivers who had: (1) greater driving-related changes in visual search performance ( p = 0.03, Cohen’s d = 0.91); and (2) HM diagnosis ( p = 0.18, Cohen’s d = 0.54). Extending previous studies, these results provide neural evidence of reduced information-processing capacity associated with cancer diagnosis. Future large-scale studies are needed to confirm these results, given the high level of uncertainty and small sample size. This study provides a novel platform for linking changes in brain physiology and safety-critical driving behaviors.

Two cheers for bounded rationality

2000 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 756-757 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raanan Lipshitz
Keyword(s):  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Information Processing ◽  
Rational Choice ◽  
Bounded Rationality ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Limited Information ◽  
Information Processing Capacity ◽  
Simple Heuristics ◽  
Normative Status

Replacing logical coherence by effectiveness as criteria of rationality, Gigerenzer et al. show that simple heuristics can outperform comprehensive procedures (e.g., regression analysis) that overload human limited information processing capacity. Although their work casts long overdue doubt on the normative status of the Rational Choice Paradigm, their methodology leaves open its relevance as to how decisions are actually made.

scholarly journals Entropy and the Brain: An Overview

Entropy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 917 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soheil Keshmiri
Keyword(s):  
Information Processing ◽  
Brain Function ◽  
Conscious Experience ◽  
Brain Networks ◽  
Fundamental Property ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Processing Capacity ◽  
Information Processing Capacity ◽  
Ageing Brain ◽  
The Brain

Entropy is a powerful tool for quantification of the brain function and its information processing capacity. This is evident in its broad domain of applications that range from functional interactivity between the brain regions to quantification of the state of consciousness. A number of previous reviews summarized the use of entropic measures in neuroscience. However, these studies either focused on the overall use of nonlinear analytical methodologies for quantification of the brain activity or their contents pertained to a particular area of neuroscientific research. The present study aims at complementing these previous reviews in two ways. First, by covering the literature that specifically makes use of entropy for studying the brain function. Second, by highlighting the three fields of research in which the use of entropy has yielded highly promising results: the (altered) state of consciousness, the ageing brain, and the quantification of the brain networks’ information processing. In so doing, the present overview identifies that the use of entropic measures for the study of consciousness and its (altered) states led the field to substantially advance the previous findings. Moreover, it realizes that the use of these measures for the study of the ageing brain resulted in significant insights on various ways that the process of ageing may affect the dynamics and information processing capacity of the brain. It further reveals that their utilization for analysis of the brain regional interactivity formed a bridge between the previous two research areas, thereby providing further evidence in support of their results. It concludes by highlighting some potential considerations that may help future research to refine the use of entropic measures for the study of brain complexity and its function. The present study helps realize that (despite their seemingly differing lines of inquiry) the study of consciousness, the ageing brain, and the brain networks’ information processing are highly interrelated. Specifically, it identifies that the complexity, as quantified by entropy, is a fundamental property of conscious experience, which also plays a vital role in the brain’s capacity for adaptation and therefore whose loss by ageing constitutes a basis for diseases and disorders. Interestingly, these two perspectives neatly come together through the association of entropy and the brain capacity for information processing.

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