How the Listener’s Attention Dynamically Switches Between Different Speakers During a Natural Conversation
研究通过21组三人自然对话实验，发现听者注意力切换时与目标说话者的神经同步增强，与忽略者的同步减弱，且语义距离增大，支持注意力衰减模型。
The neural mechanisms underpinning the dynamic switching of a listener's attention between speakers are not well understood. Here we addressed this issue in a natural conversation involving 21 triadic adult groups. Results showed that when the listener's attention dynamically switched between speakers, neural synchronization with the to-be-attended speaker was significantly enhanced, whereas that with the to-be-ignored speaker was significantly suppressed. Along with attention switching, semantic distances between sentences significantly increased in the to-be-ignored speech. Moreover, neural synchronization negatively correlated with the increase in semantic distance but not with acoustic change of the to-be-ignored speech. However, no difference in neural synchronization was found between the listener and the two speakers during the phase of sustained attention. These findings support the attenuation model of attention, indicating that both speech signals are processed beyond the basic physical level. Additionally, shifting attention imposes a cognitive burden, as demonstrated by the opposite fluctuations of interpersonal neural synchronization.