Key result
There was a statistically significant reduction in HRV, indexed by NN50, in response to speech containing grammatical errors, indicating HRV can be used to assess implicit language knowledge.
Why the study?
Methods are needed to tap into aspects of cognition not directly observable, prompting investigation into whether heart rate variability can assess implicit language knowledge.
Does heart rate variability change in response to grammatical errors in healthy language users?
Does heart rate variability change in response to grammatical errors in healthy language users?
HRV as indexed by NN50 decreases significantly in response to grammatical violations, highlighting its potential as a physiological proxy for assessing implicit language knowledge.
May index implicit grammatical processing via HRV; leaves open validation as a clinical language assessment tool.
Over the past decades, focus has been on developing methods that allow tapping into aspects of cognition that are not directly observable. This includes linguistic knowledge and skills which develop largely without awareness and may therefore be difficult or impossible to articulate. Building on the relation between language cognition and the nervous system, we examine whether Heart Rate Variability (HRV), a cardiovascular measure that indexes Autonomic Nervous System activity, can be used to assess implicit language knowledge. We test the potential of HRV to detect whether individuals possess grammatical knowledge and explore how sensitive the cardiovascular response is. 41 healthy, British English-speaking adults listened to 40 English speech samples, half of which contained grammatical errors. Thought Technology's 5-channel ProComp 5 encoder tracked heart rate via a BVP-Flex/Pro sensor attached to the middle finger of the non-dominant hand, at a rate of 2048 samples per second. A Generalised Additive Mixed Effects Model confirmed a cardiovascular response to grammatical violations: there is a statistically significant reduction in HRV as indexed by NN50 in response to stimuli that contain errors. The cardiovascular response reflects the extent of the linguistic violations, and NN50 decreases linearly with an increase in the number of errors, up to a certain level, after which HRV remains constant. This observation brings into focus a new dimension of the intricate relationship between physiology and cognition. Being able to use a highly portable and non-intrusive technique with language stimuli also creates exciting possibilities for assessing the language knowledge of individuals from a range of populations in their natural environment and in authentic communicative situations. • Methods are needed that allow tapping into aspects of cognition that are not directly observable, e.g. language knowledge. • Heart Rate Variability, a physiological indicator of Autonomous Nervous System activity, can be used to assess implicit language knowledge. • There is a statistically significant reduction in Heart Rate Variability as indexed by NN50 in response to grammatical violations. • The reduction in Heart Rate Variability as indexed by NN50 reflects the extent of the grammatical violations, as Heart Rate Variability decreases in line with an increase in the number of errors. • With HRV, the implicit language knowledge of individuals can be assessed regardless of their physical and cognitive health, in their natural environment, and in authentic communicative situations.
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Divjak et al. (2023) studied Healthy adults (n=41). Listening to speech samples with grammatical errors vs. Listening to grammatically correct speech samples was evaluated on Change in HRV (indexed by NN50) in response to stimuli containing grammatical errors. There was a statistically significant reduction in HRV, indexed by NN50, in response to speech containing grammatical errors, indicating HRV can be used to assess implicit language knowledge.
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