Perceptuo-motor interactions in the perceptual organization of speech: evidence from the verbal transformation effect

Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2012 Apr 5;367(1591):965-76. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2011.0374.

Abstract

The verbal transformation effect (VTE) refers to perceptual switches while listening to a speech sound repeated rapidly and continuously. It is a specific case of perceptual multistability providing a rich paradigm for studying the processes underlying the perceptual organization of speech. While the VTE has been mainly considered as a purely auditory effect, this paper presents a review of recent behavioural and neuroimaging studies investigating the role of perceptuo-motor interactions in the effect. Behavioural data show that articulatory constraints and visual information from the speaker's articulatory gestures can influence verbal transformations. In line with these data, functional magnetic resonance imaging and intracranial electroencephalography studies demonstrate that articulatory-based representations play a key role in the emergence and the stabilization of speech percepts during a verbal transformation task. Overall, these results suggest that perceptuo (multisensory)-motor processes are involved in the perceptual organization of speech and the formation of speech perceptual objects.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Acoustic Stimulation
  • Brain / physiology
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Models, Neurological
  • Models, Psychological
  • Phonetics
  • Photic Stimulation
  • Psychomotor Performance / physiology
  • Speech Perception / physiology*
  • Visual Perception / physiology