Abstract
AbstractIn tonal languages, which are spoken by nearly one-third of the world’s population, speakers precisely control the tension of vocal folds in the larynx to modulate pitch in order to distinguish words with completely different meanings. The specific pitch trajectories for a given tonal language are called lexical tones. Here, we used high-density direct cortical recordings to determine the neural basis of lexical tone production in native Mandarin-speaking participants. We found that instead of a tone category-selective coding, local populations in the bilateral laryngeal motor cortex (LMC) encode articulatory kinematic information to generate the pitch dynamics of lexical tones. Using a computational model of tone production, we discovered two distinct patterns of population activity in LMC commanding pitch rising and lowering. Finally, we showed that direct electrocortical stimulation of different local populations in LMC evoked pitch rising and lowering during tone production, respectively. Together, these results reveal the neural basis of vocal pitch control of lexical tones in tonal languages.
Funder
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology | Department of S and T for Social Development
Shanghai Science and Technology Development Foundation
Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality
National Natural Science Foundation of China
Shanghai Municipal Education Commission
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
General Physics and Astronomy,General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology,General Chemistry,Multidisciplinary
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