Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32802406›Full record

ArticleNPJ science of learning2020

Non-invasive peripheral nerve stimulation selectively enhances speech category learning in adults.

Fernando Llanos, Jacie R McHaney, William L Schuerman, Han G Yi, Matthew K Leonard, Bharath Chandrasekaran

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in NPJ science of learning, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 25 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
25citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 5% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

25 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 60 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
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  16. The nature of non-native speech sound representations.The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America · 2022
    Review
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  18. Article
  19. Non-sensory Influences on Auditory Learning and Plasticity.Journal of the Association for Research in Otolaryngology : JARO · 2022
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  20. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Fernando LlanosDepartment of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA.
Jacie R McHaneyDepartment of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1148-4018
William L SchuermanNeurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9123-2891
Han G YiNeurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA.
Matthew K Leonard *Neurological Surgery, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143 USA.
Bharath Chandrasekaran *Department of Communication Science and Disorders, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 USA.
University of California, San Francisco · USUniversity of Pittsburgh · US

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Adults struggle to learn non-native speech contrasts even after years of exposure. While laboratory-based training approaches yield learning, the optimal training conditions for maximizing speech learning in adulthood are currently unknown. Vagus nerve stimulation has been shown to prime adult sensory-perceptual systems towards plasticity in animal models. Precise temporal pairing with auditory stimuli can enhance auditory cortical representations with a high degree of specificity. Here, we examined whether sub-perceptual threshold transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS), paired with non-native speech sounds, enhances speech category learning in adults. Twenty-four native English-speakers were trained to identify non-native Mandarin tone categories. Across two groups, tVNS was paired with the tone categories that were easier- or harder-to-learn. A control group received no stimulation but followed an identical thresholding procedure as the intervention groups. We found that tVNS robustly enhanced speech category learning and retention of correct stimulus-response associations, but only when stimulation was paired with the easier-to-learn categories. This effect emerged rapidly, generalized to new exemplars, and was qualitatively different from the normal individual variability observed in hundreds of learners who have performed in the same task without stimulation. Electroencephalography recorded before and after training indicated no evidence of tVNS-induced changes in the sensory representation of auditory stimuli. These results suggest that paired-tVNS induces a temporally precise neuromodulatory signal that selectively enhances the perception and memory consolidation of perceptually salient categories.

Indexed as

Human behaviourPeripheral nervous system

Identifiers

PMID32802406
PMCPMC7410845
OpenAlexW3047509242

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.