Auditory structured sequence learning on multiple timescales (360G-Wellcome-213686_Z_18_Z)

Regularities play an important role in analysing auditory scenes; for example, by exploiting the predictable sounds of the car engine, a driver can effortlessly ignore this irrelevant noise, freeing cognitive resources to focus on the road. Regularities also play an important role in language, dictating the relationship between syllables in word or the order words in a sentence, and have been studied to better understand language acquisition and evolution. Despite the critical importance of regularities to both language-motivated and auditory scene-motivated research there are few direct interactions between them. Integrating these previously separate fields, this fellowship will test the hypothesis that sequencing abilities studied within the context of scene-motivated and language-motivated sequence learning will depend on common brain mechanisms. Creating novel stimuli consisting of sequences of rapid (scene-motivated) and slower (language-motivated) stimuli, governed by the same complex relationships, sensitivity to regularities will be assessed using behavioural, pupillometry and electroencephalography studies. Sequence processing proficiency will then be compared to other cognitive abilities and used to explore neurodevelopmental language disorders, e.g. dyslexia. This work will develop novel avenues for understanding the role of sequence processing in the brain and provide potential insights into how these neural processes are disrupted in language disorders.