Neural basis of individual differences in tonal effects on perceived duration

Studies in speech perception have consistently found that the perceived duration of a syllable is significantly influenced by the dynamics of the contour of its fundamental frequency (f0). Syllables with a dynamic f0 contour are perceived as longer than those with a flat f0, even though their acoustic duration is identical; high f0 syllables are perceived as longer than low f0 syllables of the same acoustic duration. Yet, while some listeners exhibit the expected perceptual normalization patterns, others show no f0-induced perceptual adjustments. This study investigates the neural foundation for this individual variability by examining listeners' scalp-recorded frequency-following response (FFR), a measure of phase-locked auditory encoding in humans that has been used to study subcortical processing in the auditory system. Our findings reveal that the FFR predicts listeners' duration estimation performance in different f0 contexts. Additionally, the FFR predicts the magnitude of the f0 influence on perceived duration, which highlights the complex interaction between sensory processing and speech perception.