Abstract
The representation of speech in the brain is often examined by measuring the alignment of rhythmic brain activity to the speech envelope. To conveniently quantify this alignment (termed ‘speech tracking’) many studies consider the overall speech envelope, which combines acoustic fluctuations across the spectral range. Using EEG recordings, we show that using this overall envelope provides a distorted picture on speech encoding. We systematically investigated the encoding of spectrally-limited speech envelopes presented by individual and multiple noise carriers in the human brain. Tracking in the 1 to 6 Hz EEG bands differentially reflected low (0.2 - 0.83 kHz) and high (2.66 - 8 kHz) frequency envelopes. This was independent of the specific carrier frequency but sensitive to attentional manipulations, and reflects the context-dependent emphasis of information from distinct spectral ranges of the speech envelope in low frequency brain activity. As low and high frequency speech envelopes relate to distinct phonemic features, our results suggest that functionally distinct processes contribute to speech tracking in the same EEG bands, and are easily confounded when considering the overall speech envelope.
Highlights
Delta/theta band EEG tracks band-limited speech envelopes similar to real speech
Low and high frequency derived speech envelopes are represented differentially
High-frequency derived envelopes are more susceptible to attentional and contextual manipulations
Delta band tracking shifts towards low frequency derived envelopes with more acoustic detail
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
