Characteristics of the Frequency-Following Response to Changes in the Acoustic Parameters of a Speech Signal (Isolated Syllable)

Human Physiology. 2026. Vol. 52. No. 3. P. 295–301.

Oknina L. B., Podlepich V. V., Sieber I., Pitskhelauri D. I., Slezkin A. A., Strelnikova E. V., Kantserova A. O.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential use of the frequency-following response (FFR) for assessing preserved perception of simple speech stimuli in humans. To this end, event-related potentials (ERPs) elicited by isolated Russian syllables were recorded and analyzed in 29 healthy subjects in two frequency ranges, the standard range (1—40 Hz) and the high-frequency range (70—150 Hz), and the identified peaks were compared with local-field potentials recorded directly from the midbrain in two patients during intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring. In the standard frequency range, a negative peak with a latency of approximately 100 ms from the analyzed event was identified in the ERPs in response to sound onset and to the transition from a consonant to a vowel. In the high-frequency range, FFR components were identified in response to syllable onset and to the transition from a consonant to a vowel; these components were similar to oscillations in local evoked responses from the patients’ midbrain. During syllable presentation, clusters of high-frequency oscillations were identified, and their prominence differed depending on the acoustic characteristics of the component sounds of the syllable. The data obtained suggest that ERP analysis in two frequency ranges, the standard and high-frequency ranges, can be used as an additional method for assessing the ability to perceive speech in humans when verbal contact with a patient is absent. The findings of this study may be used as normative data for evaluating FFRs elicited by isolated Russian syllables.

Keywords: ERPs, event-related potentials, speech perception, восприятие речи, midbrain, средний мозг, потенциалы, связанные с событиями, AUDITORY PERCEPTION DISORDERS, FFR, FREQUENCY FOLLOWING RESPONSE