Papers by Dianne Patterson
The bids-validator is a software tool to check neuroimaging datasets for adherence to the Brain I... more The bids-validator is a software tool to check neuroimaging datasets for adherence to the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) format. More information about BIDS can be found at bids.neuroimaging.io.
This is a brief talk describing some of the difficulties involved in analyzing functional magneti... more This is a brief talk describing some of the difficulties involved in analyzing functional magnetic resonance imaging and sharing a dynamic online visualization tool.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Conimittee, we c... more THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Conimittee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by D"i^nne Patterson entitled TOPICS in AROU';TIR';. Prndiirl-inn snd Pprrpntinn of Ps'ittacinp Soepch and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of
The Auk, 1996
Parrots are known for their capacity to reproduce the sounds of human speech, but few studies hav... more Parrots are known for their capacity to reproduce the sounds of human speech, but few studies have investigated their mechanisms for producing such vocalizations. Using three methods of noninvasive video imaging (Super VHS video, infrared, X-ray radiography), we examined correlations between several elements of a Grey Parrot's (Psittacus erithacus) vocal-tract configuration and the bird's production of two vowels,/i/("eat") and/a/("rock"). This parrot uses mechanisms that both resemble and differ from those used by: (a) humans to produce English speech; and (b) some arian species to produce conspecific vocalizations. This Grey Parrot, for example, uses its vocal apparatus in some but not all of the ways used by humans to produce vowels. Although our Grey Parrot, like some oscines, appears to use beak opening to modify the characteristics of sound, the specific sound-modification properties of beak opening may or may not be similar to those of nonpsittacids. We describe a first-order model that, although simplistic, may aid our understanding of the mechanisms that enable a parrot to reproduce human speech.
ABSTRACT Thesis (M.A.)--Arizona State University, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leav... more ABSTRACT Thesis (M.A.)--Arizona State University, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [162]-173).
Journal of …, 1998
To produce a model to explain the acoustic properties of human speech sounds produced by Grey par... more To produce a model to explain the acoustic properties of human speech sounds produced by Grey parrots (Psittacus erithacus) and to compare these properties across species (e.g., with humans, other psittacine and nonpsittacine mimics), researchers need adequate measurements of the chambers that constitute the parrot vocal tract. Various methods can provide such data. Here we compare results for tracheal measurements provided by a) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of a live bird, b) caliper measurements of four preserved specimens, and c) electron beam computed tomography (EBCT) of three of these preserved specimens. We find that EBCT scans provide data that correspond to the inner area of the dissected trachea, whereas MRI results correspond to area measurements that include tracheal ring thickness. We briefly discuss how these data may predict formant values for Grey parrot reproduction of human vowels. Our results suggest how noninvasive techniques can be used for cross-species comparisons, including the coevolution of structure and function in avian mimicry. J. Morphol. 238:81-91, 1998. © 1998 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Conimittee, we c... more THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA ® GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Final Examination Conimittee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by D"i^nne Patterson entitled TOPICS in AROU';TIR';. Prndiirl-inn snd Pprrpntinn of Ps'ittacinp Soepch and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of
Thesis (M.A.)--Arizona State University, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [162]-... more Thesis (M.A.)--Arizona State University, 1989. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [162]-173).
Journal of Neurolinguistics, 2015
Artificial language studies have demonstrated that learners are able to segment individual word-l... more Artificial language studies have demonstrated that learners are able to segment individual word-like units from running speech using the transitional probability information. However, this skill has rarely been examined in the context of natural languages, where stimulus parameters can be quite different. In this study, two groups of English-speaking learners were exposed to Norwegian sentences over the course of three fMRI scans. One group was provided with input in which transitional probabilities predicted the presence of target words in the sentences. This group quickly learned to identify the target words and fMRI data revealed an extensive and highly dynamic learning network. These results were markedly different from activation seen for a second group of participants. This group was provided with highly similar input that was modified so that word learning based on syllable co-occurrences was not possible. These participants showed a much more restricted network. The results demonstrate that the nature of the input strongly influenced the nature of the network that learners employ to learn the properties of words in a natural language.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1994
General acoustic and articulatory parallels between human and avian production of human vowels ha... more General acoustic and articulatory parallels between human and avian production of human vowels have been identified. A complete set of vowels from an African Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) and a limited set from a Yellow-naped Amazon parrot (Amazonlea ochrocephala auropalliata) have been analyzed. Comparisons of human and avian acoustic parameters demonstrated both differences (e.g., absolute values of first formant frequencies) and similarities (e.g., separation of vowels into back and front categories with respect to tongue placement) in acoustic properties of avian and human speech. Similarities and differences were also found in articulatory mechanisms: Parrots, for example, use their tongues in some but not all the ways used by humans to producc vowels. Because humans perceive and correctly label vowels produced by psittacids despite differences in avian and human articulatory and acoustic parameters, the findings (a) arc consistent with research that demonstrates the flexibility of vowel perception by humans and (b) suggest that the perceptual discontinuities that are exploited by speech may bc basic to vertebrates rather than to mammals.
The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 1998
General acoustic patterns in productions of American English stops /p,b,t,d,k,g/ by a Grey parrot... more General acoustic patterns in productions of American English stops /p,b,t,d,k,g/ by a Grey parrot (Psittacus erithacus) and his primary human trainer are identified. Comparisons demonstrated both differences (coherence of voicing [/p,t,k/ and /b,d,g/] and place [/p,b/, /t,d/, and /k,g/] subsets, predictive power of measures related to F1 and F3) and similarities (categorical distinctions among stop consonants) in acoustic properties of psittacine and human speech. The authors suggest how acoustic data might be correlated with articulatory events in the parrot. Our data are also compared with speech from a mynah (Gracula religiosa). Because humans perceive and correctly label psittacine stop consonants despite differences in avian and human articulatory and acoustic parameters, our findings (a) further expand our initial work with vowels [Patterson and Pepperberg, J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 96, 634-648 (1994)], (b) corroborate findings suggesting that the perceptual discontinuities exploited by speech may be accessible to various sensory systems, and (c) challenge the notion that human speech production is a unique process.
NeuroImage: Clinical, 2017
Individuals with developmental language impairment can show deficits into adulthood. This suggest... more Individuals with developmental language impairment can show deficits into adulthood. This suggests that neural networks related to their language do not normalize with time. We examined the ability of 16 adults with and without impaired language to learn individual words in an unfamiliar language. Adults with impaired language were able to segment individual words from running speech, but needed more time to do so than their normallanguage peers. ICA analysis of fMRI data indicated that adults with language impairment activate a neural network that is comparable to that of adults with normal language. However, a regional analysis indicated relative hyperactivation of a collection of regions associated with language processing. These results are discussed with reference to the Statistical Learning Framework and the sub-skills thought to relate to word segmentation.
Neuropsychologia, 2014
Those who are initially exposed to an unfamiliar language have difficulty separating running spee... more Those who are initially exposed to an unfamiliar language have difficulty separating running speech into individual words, but over time will recognize both words and the grammatical structure of the language. Behavioral studies have used artificial languages to demonstrate that humans are sensitive to distributional information in language input, and can use this information to discover the structure of that language. This is done without direct instruction and learning occurs over the course of minutes rather than days or months. Moreover, learners may attend to different aspects of the language input as their own learning progresses. Here, we examine processing associated with the early stages of exposure to a natural language, using fMRI. Listeners were exposed to an unfamiliar language (Icelandic) while undergoing four consecutive fMRI scans. The Icelandic stimuli were constrained in ways known to produce rapid learning of aspects of language structure. After approximately 4 min of exposure to the Icelandic stimuli, participants began to differentiate between correct and incorrect sentences at above chance levels, with significant improvement between the first and last scan. An independent component analysis of the imaging data revealed four task-related components, two of which were associated with behavioral performance early in the experiment, and two with performance later in the experiment. This outcome suggests dynamic changes occur in the recruitment of neural resources even within the initial period of exposure to an unfamiliar natural language.
Neuron, 2011
Frontal and temporal language areas involved in syntactic processing are connected by several dor... more Frontal and temporal language areas involved in syntactic processing are connected by several dorsal and ventral tracts, but the functional roles of the different tracts are not well understood. To identify which white matter tract(s) are important for syntactic processing, we examined the relationship between white matter damage and syntactic deficits in patients with primary progressive aphasia, using multimodal neuroimaging and neurolinguistic assessment. Diffusion tensor imaging showed that microstructural damage to left hemisphere dorsal tracts-the superior longitudinal fasciculus including its arcuate component-was strongly associated with deficits in comprehension and production of syntax. Damage to these dorsal tracts predicted syntactic deficits after gray matter atrophy was taken into account, and fMRI confirmed that these tracts connect regions modulated by syntactic processing. In contrast, damage to ventral tracts-the extreme capsule fiber system or the uncinate fasciculus-was not associated with syntactic deficits. Our findings show that syntactic processing depends primarily on dorsal language tracts.
NeuroImage, 2014
This paper introduces a Bidirectional Iterative Parcellation (BIP) procedure designed to identify... more This paper introduces a Bidirectional Iterative Parcellation (BIP) procedure designed to identify the location and size of connected cortical regions (parcellations) at both ends of a white matter tract in diffusion weighted images. The procedure applies the FSL option "probabilistic tracking with classification targets" in a bidirectional and iterative manner. To assess the utility of BIP, we applied the procedure to the problem of parcellating a limited set of well-established gray matter seed regions associated with the dorsal (arcuate fasciculus/superior longitudinal fasciculus) and ventral (extreme capsule fiber system) white matter tracts in the language networks of 97 participants. These left hemisphere seed regions and the two white matter tracts, along with their right hemisphere homologues, provided an excellent test case for BIP because the resulting parcellations overlap and their connectivity via the arcuate fasciculi and extreme capsule fiber systems are well studied. The procedure yielded both confirmatory and novel findings. Specifically, BIP confirmed that each tract connects within the seed regions in unique, but expected ways. Novel findings included increasingly left-lateralized parcellations associated with the arcuate fasciculus/superior longitudinal fasciculus as a function of age and education. These results demonstrate that BIP is an easily implemented technique that successfully confirmed cortical connectivity patterns predicted in the literature, and has the potential to provide new insights regarding the architecture of the brain.
Laterality: Asymmetries of Body, Brain and Cognition, 2014
For the majority of the population, language is a left-hemisphere lateralized function. During ch... more For the majority of the population, language is a left-hemisphere lateralized function. During childhood, a pattern of increasing left lateralization for language has been described in brain imaging studies, suggesting that this trait develops. This development could reflect change due to brain maturation or change due to skill acquisition, given that children acquire and refine language skills as they mature. We test the possibility that skill acquisition, independent of age-associated maturation can result in shifts in language lateralization in classic language cortex. We imaged adults exposed to an unfamiliar language during three successive fMRI scans. Participants were then asked to identify specific words embedded in Norwegian sentences. Exposure to these sentences, relative to complex tones, resulted in consistent activation in the left and right superior temporal gyrus. Activation in this region became increasingly left-lateralized with repeated exposure to the unfamiliar language. These results demonstrate that shifts in lateralization can be produced in the short term within a learning context, independent of maturation.
Medical Imaging 1997: Physiology and Function from Multidimensional Images, 1997
Little is known about mechanisms ofspeech production in parrots. Recently, however, techniques fo... more Little is known about mechanisms ofspeech production in parrots. Recently, however, techniques for correlating vocal tract shape with vowel production in humans have become more sophisticated ' and we have adapted these techniques for use with parrots. We scanned two Grey Parrot heads with intact vocal iracts. One specimen, "Oldbird" was fixed with its beak propped open; the second "Youngbird" was fixed with its beak closed. Using VIDA (Volumetric Image Display and Analysis) software, we 1) established that differences in tongue and larynx positioning resulted from opening or closing the beak; and, 2) obtained lengths and area functions for the trachea, glottis, pharynx, mouth, and choana for both specimens and esophageal length and area functions for the first specimen. We entered lengths and area functions into a one dimensional wave propagation model' to determine the natural formant frequencies associated with an open versus closed beak. We also determined how manipulating lengths and area functions could affect formant frequency and relative intensity. Finally, by comparing observed Grey parrot vowel formants2 to modeled formants, we predict how the parrot uses its vocal tract to produce speech.
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Papers by Dianne Patterson