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EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

journals.plos.org

131–140 of 193 posts

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When I was a kid, my dad (a physicist) would often read stories to me and my brother. He would sometimes fall asleep while reading, and we could tell when that was coming because suddenly our children's story would stop making sense and get filled with all these big physics terms.

Oh yeah, I have been sleep deprived so much that the things that I said made no sense. I still formulated sentences but they did not have any meaning. In fact, I noticed this myself and I was like "fuck, what I just said made no sense". This happened a few times. It is a pretty interesting experience.

This sometimes happens to me when I get a migraine.

A sentence can be coherent in the formulaic sense, but complete nonsense as far as words. I immediately notice that it's incorrect, but I don't have the ability to fix it at that moment.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#132
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed something similar. I can listen to audiobooks and follow/absorb what is going on without really paying attention, as long as I am not trying to read something. I can't follow an audiobook and read at the same time. This is probably because I subvocalize when I read. I have taken speed reading courses but I don't enjoy reading that way. I like feeling every word as I read.

I read by imagining a voice saying the words. Is that not how everyone reads?

Personally it's the same way you look at a thing and get a mental sense of "this is that thing" without having to scan every detail right away, you look at a chunk of a sentence or words and get the sense of its meaning, and you can vocalize that in your head if you want to

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#133
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've noticed something similar. I can listen to audiobooks and follow/absorb what is going on without really paying attention, as long as I am not trying to read something. I can't follow an audiobook and read at the same time. This is probably because I subvocalize when I read. I have taken speed reading courses but I don't enjoy reading that way. I like feeling every word as I read.

I read by imagining a voice saying the words. Is that not how everyone reads?

I have two reading modes: A narrative reading mode where a voice reads the text, and a speed reading mode where my eyes scan down the page and recognize the characters, words and phrases without any voice.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#134
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can also count while reading, I just tried it. But I can't write while counting. I can have one interpretation and one generative task running at the same time.

It really does feel like reading and counting can occupy separate lanes, while writing and counting are both trying to use the same internal narrator

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Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting, I experimented a bit with this when my daughter was younger. I used to walk around the room with her in my arms singing to get her to sleep. To ensure she would be settled I would then count 300 steps before putting her in the cot. I discovered I could count and sing at the same time by visualising the number in my head, instead of using my inner monologue. But it requires more focus to maintain. Thankfu…

It reminds a bit of musicians tracking rhythm. You can somehow feel a beat after a bit practice even when not directly paying attention to it and it's not too hard to associate it with an increasing counter (somehow). It sounds hard, but it is quite doable.

> You can somehow feel a beat

If you play in an orchestra, you might have the visual memory of the conductor and their time signature motions helping you along.

The somewhat jarring tick tock of a digital metronome can also be encoded into a sort of background track that plays more or less automatically in your head.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#137

Related, but this reminds me of the story by Richard Feynman [1] when he practices counting up to 60 seconds in his head, and after many experiments around what he can do simultaneously conclude that he can simultaneously count and read but not speak. Later sharing this to John Tukey, he's told that Tukey can't read while counting but could speak while counting. Turns out Tukey is visualizing looking at a tape, while…

I wonder how musical counts interact with this.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#138

Related, but this reminds me of the story by Richard Feynman [1] when he practices counting up to 60 seconds in his head, and after many experiments around what he can do simultaneously conclude that he can simultaneously count and read but not speak. Later sharing this to John Tukey, he's told that Tukey can't read while counting but could speak while counting. Turns out Tukey is visualizing looking at a tape, while…

This has everything to do with the fact we have two brains. The left and right brain (more specifically the left and right hemispheres of the Cerebral Cortex) hold different functions cognitively, control the motor movements of the opposite sides of the body, and communicate thru the Corpus Callosum. Your full consciousness, or thought, is almost like a 'stream' created at this meeting point of the two brains where t…

The article's EEG images don't seem to suggest this is due to two brain hemispheres.

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#139
post #18

The DJ is explained.

Many dj mixers offer the option to split the main mix to one ear and the cue’d track to the other, i have never been able to mix like that, only with cue on headphones and main mix out in the room/monitors. Weird

Everyone can be different and that's ok.

I know dj's who can rarely hear the song that's currently playing, and only hear all the other songs that can play with it.

Experiencing music is the gift :)

Re: EEG shows brain can simultaneous encode two speech streams

#140
When I used to go to parties in college, I was known within my friend group for participating in multiple conversations at once, flitting from one group to another. One of my friends later told me he thought it was impressive, but in fact I just couldn't help but hear all of the conversations at once, and if multiple groups were talking about interesting things, I would find myself torn between them, and end up bouncing back and forth.
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