Effects of Selective Attention on Syntax Processing in Music and Language

摘要

The present study investigated the effects of auditory selectivenattention on the processing of syntactic information in musicnand speech using event-related potentials. Spoken sentences ornmusical chord sequences were either presented in isolation, ornsimultaneously. When presented simultaneously, participantsnhad to focus their attention either on speech, or on music. Finalnwords of sentences and final harmonies of chord sequences werensyntactically either correct or incorrect. Irregular chords elicitednan early right anterior negativity (ERAN), whose amplitude wasndecreased when music was simultaneously presented withnspeech, compared to when only music was presented. However,nthe amplitude of the ERAN-like waveform elicited when musicnwas ignored did not differ from the conditions in which participantsnattended the chord sequences. Irregular sentences elicitednan early left anterior negativity (ELAN), regardless of whethernspeech was presented in isolation, was attended, or was to be ignored.nThese findings suggest that the neural mechanisms underlyingnthe processing of syntactic structure of music andnspeech operate partially automatically, and, in the case of music,nare influenced by different attentional conditions. Moreover, thenERAN was slightly reduced when irregular sentences were presented,nbut only when music was ignored. Therefore, these findingsnprovide no clear support for an interaction of neural resourcesnfor syntactic processing already at these early stages.