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Cortical processing of discrete prosodic patterns in continuous speech

Author

Listed:
  • G. Nike Gnanateja

    (University of Wisconsin-Madison)

  • Kyle Rupp

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • Fernando Llanos

    (The University of Texas at Austin)

  • Jasmine Hect

    (University of Pittsburgh)

  • James S. German

    (Aix-Marseille University, CNRS, LPL)

  • Tobias Teichert

    (University of Pittsburgh
    University of Pittsburgh)

  • Taylor J. Abel

    (University of Pittsburgh
    University of Pittsburgh)

  • Bharath Chandrasekaran

    (University of Pittsburgh
    Northwestern University
    Knowles Hearing Center)

Abstract

Prosody has a vital function in speech, structuring a speaker’s intended message for the listener. The superior temporal gyrus (STG) is considered a critical hub for prosody, but the role of earlier auditory regions like Heschl’s gyrus (HG), associated with pitch processing, remains unclear. Using intracerebral recordings in humans and non-human primate models, we investigated prosody processing in narrative speech, focusing on pitch accents—abstract phonological units that signal word prominence and communicative intent. In humans, HG encoded pitch accents as abstract representations beyond spectrotemporal features, distinct from segmental speech processing, and outperforms STG in disambiguating pitch accents. Multivariate models confirm HG’s unique representation of pitch accent categories. In the non-human primate, pitch accents were not abstractly encoded, despite robust spectrotemporal processing, highlighting the role of experience in shaping abstract representations. These findings emphasize a key role for the HG in early prosodic abstraction and advance our understanding of human speech processing.

Suggested Citation

  • G. Nike Gnanateja & Kyle Rupp & Fernando Llanos & Jasmine Hect & James S. German & Tobias Teichert & Taylor J. Abel & Bharath Chandrasekaran, 2025. "Cortical processing of discrete prosodic patterns in continuous speech," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 16(1), pages 1-16, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:16:y:2025:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-025-56779-w
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-56779-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Daniel Bendor & Xiaoqin Wang, 2005. "The neuronal representation of pitch in primate auditory cortex," Nature, Nature, vol. 436(7054), pages 1161-1165, August.
    2. Matthijs J. Warrens & Hanneke Hoef, 2022. "Understanding the Adjusted Rand Index and Other Partition Comparison Indices Based on Counting Object Pairs," Journal of Classification, Springer;The Classification Society, vol. 39(3), pages 487-509, November.
    3. Yuanning Li & Claire Tang & Junfeng Lu & Jinsong Wu & Edward F. Chang, 2021. "Human cortical encoding of pitch in tonal and non-tonal languages," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, December.
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