Influence of phonological relevance on top-down and bottom-up processing: a systematic dichotic listening study

Authors

  • Ashwath Yashu Department of Speech and Hearing, SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India https://orcid.org/0009-0002-8377-4863
  • Kuthirakal Rohith Department of Speech and Hearing, SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India
  • Wasim Ahmed Department of Speech and Hearing, SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Shri Dharmasthala Manjunatheshwara University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6065-372X
  • Mayur Bhat Department of Audiology and Speech Language Pathology, Kasturba Medical College Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31117/neuroscirn.v9i2.540

Keywords:

Dichotic listening, Free recall, Forced attention, Phonemic relevance, Right ear advantage

Abstract

Dichotic listening (DL) is a test where auditory stimuli are presented simultaneously to each ear. It is sensitive to hemisphere differences and has been used to study language lateralisation. Recently, dichotic tests have been widely used to study the influence of attention on speech laterality in various disordered populations. The study aims to examine the effect of phonemic relevance on dichotic perception in Kannada. This study was carried out in two phases. Phase 1 aimed to develop and validate a Dichotic word list in Kannada, and Phase 2 involved data collection. Two lists of dichotic pairs were developed and tested with 25 adults across three conditions (free recall, forced right, and forced left). Results showed significant differences in ear responses during the free recall condition, indicating a right-ear advantage. Further, the results showed reduced dichotic performance for phonemically relevant pairs compared to the irrelevant pairs. The findings demonstrated that the right ear advantage can be precisely obtained by increasing the linguistic complexity of dichotic pairs. The addition of phonemic relevance would enhance the clinical utility of dichotic testing for assessing linguistic deficits across various disordered populations.

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Published

2026-06-22

How to Cite

Yashu, A., Rohith, K., Ahmed, W., & Bhat, M. (2026). Influence of phonological relevance on top-down and bottom-up processing: a systematic dichotic listening study. Neuroscience Research Notes, 9(2), 540.1–540.8. https://doi.org/10.31117/neuroscirn.v9i2.540

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2026): Regular Issue

Section

Research Notes

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Copyright (c) 2026 Ashwath Yashu, Kuthirakal Rohith, Wasim Ahmed, Mayur Bhat

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