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arXiv · 2303.06435

Relating EEG recordings to speech using envelope tracking and the speech-FFR

Mike Thornton·Danilo Mandic·Tobias Reichenbach
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Abstract

During speech perception, a listener's electroencephalogram (EEG) reflects acoustic-level processing as well as higher-level cognitive factors such as speech comprehension and attention. However, decoding speech from EEG recordings is challenging due to the low signal-to-noise ratios of EEG signals. We report on an approach developed for the ICASSP 2023 'Auditory EEG Decoding' Signal Processing Grand Challenge. A simple ensembling method is shown to considerably improve upon the baseline decoder performance. Even higher classification rates are achieved by jointly decoding the speech-evoked frequency-following response and responses to the temporal envelope of speech, as well as by fine-tuning the decoders to individual subjects. Our results could have applications in the diagnosis of hearing disorders or in cognitively steered hearing aids.

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Mike Thornton, Danilo Mandic, Tobias Reichenbach. 2023-03-11. Relating EEG recordings to speech using envelope tracking and the speech-FFR. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.06435

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