Competing speech streams are simultaneously represented in the human cortex during attention switching.

Overview

1. School of Computer Science and Statistics, ADAPT Centre, The University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
2. Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, The University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
3. Eriksholm Research Centre, Oticon A/S, Snekkersten, Denmark
4. Department of Electrical Engineering, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden
5. Hearing Systems Section, Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark, Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
6. School of Engineering, Global Brain Health Institute, Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, The University of Dublin, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland

Abstract

Successful speech communication in multi-talker scenarios requires a skillful combination of sustained attention and rapid attention switching. While the neurophysiology literature offers detailed insights into the neural underpinnings of sustained attention, there remains considerable uncertainty on how attention switching takes place. In this study, using EEG recordings from normal-hearing adults in an immersive multi-talker environment, we measured the neural encoding of two competing speech streams amid background babble. Participants were cued to switch attention between streams every 15–30 s. Neural tracking was assessed via Temporal Response Functions (TRF), confirming reliable decoding of attentional focus. Our results indicate asymmetric disengagement and engagement processes during attention switches, where the neural tracking of the new target stream emerges before disengaging from the previous target, revealing a transient simultaneous encoding of two speech streams. That transition was closely mirrored by a reduction in EEG alpha power, informing on the cognitive effort during different phases of the attention switch. We then isolated cortical activity reflecting lexical prediction mechanisms to determine how lexical context is updated after an attention switch, comparing four context-accumulation strategies that were constructed using Large Language Models. Our findings elucidate both the temporal and contextual mechanisms underlying auditory attention shifts, pointing to the possibility that listeners carry out a reset in lexical context after switching attention. By focusing on dynamic attentional reallocation, this study offers insights into the brain’s capacity for flexible speech processing in complex listening environments.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Data

Datasets cited

• zenodo:20569817 — at Zenodo; found in the text, “Introduction”

Data Availability

All data supporting the findings reported in this manuscript are freely accessible without restriction. The EEG pre-processed dataset, the resulting analysis files, and the analysis code are publicly available on the open repository Zenodo (https://zenodo.org/records/20569817). The EEG recordings are provided following the Continuous-event Neural Data (CND) format standard. The associated speech stimuli can also be found in the same repository, within the STIMULI folder.

Reproduced under the paper's license (CC BY), from the paper cited above.

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Version 1, 27 September 2026: the first record

Recorded: type, language, journal, volume, issue, pages, dates, 5 authors, 13 MeSH terms, 3 funders, 78 references.

Cite

This paper

Carta, S., Aličković, E., Zaar, J., López Valdés, A., & Di Liberto, G. M. (2026). Competing speech streams are simultaneously represented in the human cortex during attention switching. PLoS biology, 24(7), e3003876. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3003876

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