Connectivity Analysis of Regions of Interest Between Regional Accents
Disciplines
Biological Psychology | Cognitive Psychology | Experimental Analysis of Behavior
Abstract (300 words maximum)
The purpose of the study was to examine whether there is a neurological preference for regionally specific accents. The three accents examined were a regionally familiar accent (North Georgia Southern North American), a regionally unfamiliar accent (Korean), and a regionally indistinct accent (Midwestern North American). Each subject (n = 13) was administered one paragraph of each accent while the electroencephalograph (EEG) was recorded through a NuAmps NeuroScan 7181 amplifier. A sLORETA analysis using pairwise comparisons between each accent revealed significant differences between the Midwestern and North Georgia accents, mild differences the Midwestern and Korean accents, and little to no differences between the North Georgia and Korean accents. The inferior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe, moving in a rostral direction from Wernicke’s area, was the center of most differences.
Additionally, a sLORETA lagged connectivity analysis revealed that the North Georgia and Korean accents had markedly higher connectivity across all eight frequency bands when compared to the Midwestern amongst the specified regions of interest. The four regions of interest included the Primary Auditory Cortex, the Prefrontal Cortex, and Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. Connectivity differences between the Korean and North Georgia accents were mildly variable, with the North Georgia accent producing the higher connectivity between the two. Total coherence and instantaneous coherence analyses mirrored the marked disparity between the Midwestern accent versus the Korean and North Georgia accents, however, they revealed less disparity between the Korean and North Georgia accents.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
RCHSS - Psychological Science
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Tim Martin
Connectivity Analysis of Regions of Interest Between Regional Accents
The purpose of the study was to examine whether there is a neurological preference for regionally specific accents. The three accents examined were a regionally familiar accent (North Georgia Southern North American), a regionally unfamiliar accent (Korean), and a regionally indistinct accent (Midwestern North American). Each subject (n = 13) was administered one paragraph of each accent while the electroencephalograph (EEG) was recorded through a NuAmps NeuroScan 7181 amplifier. A sLORETA analysis using pairwise comparisons between each accent revealed significant differences between the Midwestern and North Georgia accents, mild differences the Midwestern and Korean accents, and little to no differences between the North Georgia and Korean accents. The inferior temporal gyrus of the temporal lobe, moving in a rostral direction from Wernicke’s area, was the center of most differences.
Additionally, a sLORETA lagged connectivity analysis revealed that the North Georgia and Korean accents had markedly higher connectivity across all eight frequency bands when compared to the Midwestern amongst the specified regions of interest. The four regions of interest included the Primary Auditory Cortex, the Prefrontal Cortex, and Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. Connectivity differences between the Korean and North Georgia accents were mildly variable, with the North Georgia accent producing the higher connectivity between the two. Total coherence and instantaneous coherence analyses mirrored the marked disparity between the Midwestern accent versus the Korean and North Georgia accents, however, they revealed less disparity between the Korean and North Georgia accents.