Guro Stensby Sjuls

• Sjuls, Guro Stensby; Vulchanova, Mila Dimitrova & Gervain, Judit (2026). Prosody as an Entry Point Into Language Structure in Early Language Acquisition. I Meyer, Lars & Strauss, Antje (Red.), Rhythms of Speech and Language: Physiology, Cognition, Culture. Cambridge University Press. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Cambridge Core - Psycholinguistics and Neurolinguistics - Rhythms of Speech and Language

• Sjuls, Guro Stensby (2025). Utilising Non-Nutritive Sucking in Developmental Language Research: Past, Current and Future. Infant and Child Development. ISSN 1522-7227. 34(2). doi: 10.1002/icd.70006. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Sjuls, Guro Stensby; Harvei, Nora Nordseth & Vulchanova, Mila Dimitrova (2023). The relationship between neural phase entrainment and statistical word-learning: A scoping review. Psychonomic Bulletin & Review. ISSN 1069-9384. doi: 10.3758/s13423-023-02425-9. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Statistical language-learning, the capacity to extract regularities from a continuous speech stream, arguably involves the ability to segment the stream before the discrete constituents can be stored in memory. According to recent accounts, the segmentation process is reflected in the alignment of neural activity to the statistical structure embedded in the input. However, the degree to which it can predict the subsequent leaning outcome is currently unclear. As this is a relatively new avenue of research on statistical learning, a scoping review approach was adopted to identify and explore the current body of evidence on the use of neural phase entrainment as a measure of online neural statistical language-learning and its relation to the learning outcome, as well as the design characteristics of these studies. All included studies (11) observed entrainment to the underlying statistical pattern with exposure to the structured speech stream. A significant association between entrainment and learning outcome was observed in six of the studies. We discuss these findings in light of what neural entrainment in statistical word-learning experiments might represent, and speculate that it might reflect a general auditory processing mechanism, rather than segmentation of the speech stream per se. Lastly, as we find the current selection of studies to provide inconclusive evidence for neural entrainment’s role in statistical learning, future research avenues are proposed.

• Sjuls, Guro Stensby; Vulchanova, Mila Dimitrova & Assaneo, Florencia (2023). Replication of population-level differences in auditory-motor synchronization ability in a Norwegian-speaking population. Communications Psychology. 1. doi: 10.1038/s44271-023-00049-2. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The Speech-to-Speech Synchronization test is a powerful tool in assessing individuals’ auditory-motor synchronization ability, namely the ability to synchronize one’s own utterances to the rhythm of an external speech signal. Recent studies using the test have revealed that participants fall into two distinct groups—high synchronizers and low synchronizers—with significant differences in their neural (structural and functional) underpinnings and outcomes on several behavioral tasks. Therefore, it is critical to assess the universality of the population-level distribution (indicating two groups rather than a normal distribution) across populations of speakers. Here we demonstrate that the previous results replicate with a Norwegian-speaking population, indicating that the test is generalizable beyond previously tested populations of native English- and German-speakers.

• Sjuls, Guro Stensby & Specht, Karsten (2022). Variability in Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging: The Effect of Body Mass, Blood Pressure, Hematocrit, and Glycated Hemoglobin on Hemodynamic and Neuronal Parameters. Brain Connectivity. ISSN 2158-0014. 12(10), s. 870–882. doi: 10.1089/brain.2021.0125. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Introduction: Replicability has become an increasing focus within the scientific communities with the ongoing “replication crisis.” One area that appears to struggle with unreliable results is resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). Therefore, the current study aimed at improving the knowledge of endogenous factors that contribute to inter-individual variability. Methods: Arterial blood pressure (BP), body mass, hematocrit, and glycated hemoglobin were investigated as potential sources of between-subject variability in rs-fMRI, in healthy individuals. Whether changes in resting-state networks (rs-networks) could be attributed to variability in the blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD)-signal, changes in neuronal activity, or both was of special interest. Within-subject parameters were estimated by utilizing dynamic-causal modeling, as it allows to make inferences on the estimated hemodynamic (BOLD-signal dynamics) and neuronal parameters (effective connectivity) separately. Results: The results of the analyses imply that BP and body mass can cause between-subject and between-group variability in the BOLD-signal and that all the included factors can affect the underlying connectivity. Discussion: Given the results of the current and previous studies, rs-fMRI results appear to be susceptible to a range of factors, which is likely to contribute to the low degree of replicability of these studies. Interestingly, the highest degree of variability seems to appear within the much-studied default mode network and its connections to other networks.

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• Xu, Qihui; Sjuls, Guro Stensby; Kalashnikova, Marina & Magnuson, James S. (2024). Modeling infant cortical tracking of statistical learning in simple recurrent networks. Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society. 46(1), s. 5795–5801. doi: https:/escholarship.org/uc/item/2fh04209. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Vulchanova, Mila Dimitrova; Assaneo, Florencia; Gervain, Judit & Sjuls, Guro Stensby (2025). Sensorimotor Synchronization to Speech: A Developmental Perspective. Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet. ISSN 9788232687534. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  This thesis explores sensorimotor synchronization to speech in infancy. Sensorimotor synchronization involves aligning motor responses to external rhythms, such as those embedded in the speech signal. Adults’ ability to align speech production to the rate of syllables in natural speech has been found to be bimodally distributed, forming “high” and “low” synchronizer groups at the population level (Assaneo et al., 2019a). High synchronizers excel on languagerelated tasks and show neural traits indicating better attunement to the syllabic rate. These results imply that such sensorimotor synchronization provides information about the communication between auditory and motor regions of the speech network in the brain, leading to behaviorally relevant differences in speech processing. This thesis specifically examines sensorimotor synchronization in early infancy and its relation to language development, drawing from the results of three research articles. The first article investigates whether a pattern of high and low synchronizers exists for adult Norwegian speakers, to assess the replicability of previous findings. Our results confirm this pattern and contribute to the understanding of individual variability relevant to speech processing and production across cultures. The second article explores how sensorimotor synchronization to speech can be assessed in early infancy. Infants exhibit a rhythmic oromotor behavior (nonnutritive sucking; NNS) which has been used to study speech perception over the last 50 years. This behavior could also have potential when assessing infants’ sensorimotor synchronization, based on theoretical proposals and empirical findings that are highlighted in the article. Building on results from the adult synchronization literature, I additionally propose that sensorimotor synchronization of this behavior could provide information about the neural communication between auditory and motor regions of infants’ speech network. The third article investigates sensorimotor synchronization to syllables in 2to 4montholds, presented at two relevant rates: 4.5 Hz, corresponding to syllables in natural speech, and 3 Hz, corresponding to the frequency of syllables in infant-directed speech and prosodic features in natural speech. The study additionally assesses the relationship between these parameters and language development at 12 months of age. The results suggest that infants adjust the frequency of their NNS to better align with the frequency of both stimuli. Infants’ NNS is also weakly synchronized in time with the syllable rate, suggesting that they are low synchronizers. However, no correlation was found between sensorimotor synchronization and language development. The overall implications of the findings from the articles are discussed in the cover article, concentrating on three main themes. Firstly, I argue that the auditory-motor coupling is somewhat operational from an age range of 2 to 4 months and already tuned toward the syllabic rate, which can be assessed through studying sensorimotor synchronization of NNS. Secondly, I discuss potential factors that may influence the developmental trajectory from low synchronizers in infancy to high and low synchronizers in adulthood, emphasizing the role of neural maturation and music. Finally, I propose explanations as to why sensorimotor synchronization did not correlate with later language development, particularly considering neural maturation and methodological limitations.

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