Neural Tracking of Language Emerges from Distributed Synchronization, Sensitivity to Syntax, and Statistics

Neural Tracking of Language Emerges from Distributed Synchronization, Sensitivity to Syntax, and Statistics | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Neural Tracking of Language Emerges from Distributed Synchronization, Sensitivity to Syntax, and Statistics Filiz Tezcan, Cas Coopmans, Andrea Martin This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8269283/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Neural tracking, how brain activity synchronizes with speech, remains contentious regarding whether it's driven by lexical statistical information or linguistic structures. Previous research provided evidence for both accounts, but methodological limitations made direct comparisons difficult. We used isochronous Turkish stimuli with head-final phrase structure to eliminate confounds of word category repetition at the phrase level. By controlling acoustic features, word repetition, meaning-relatedness, transitional probabilities, and syntactic structure, we isolated distinct contributions of lexical statistics and syntactic structure to neural tracking. Results showed both factors independently shape neural responses, with complex linguistic structures engaging broader brain networks. Computational modeling revealed that hierarchically-coupled oscillations explained neural data better than statistical models alone, supporting structured linguistic representation building alongside word-level statistics. Our model proposes meaning emerges through flexible coupling among neural populations encoding lexical categories. These findings demonstrate that hierarchical processing crucially contributes to neural speech tracking beyond statistical repetitions. Biological sciences/Neuroscience/Auditory system Biological sciences/Psychology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8269283","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":558435481,"identity":"4ac19a05-e350-4c47-bb66-823cbcc329c4","order_by":0,"name":"Filiz Tezcan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA30lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYPACOR4+ZgbGB0AWDx8htTwQypiHjZmB2QAkwEasFgagSjYJEJOgFnv29ocffu4wkGFjZ39W+TXHToaNgfnhoxv4bOE5kCzZe8YA5LC027LbkoEOYzM2zsGnRSLhGANv2x+QlmO3JbcxA7XwsEnj1SL/sI3xbxvIFsa2Yslt9URokWBmY+YFa2FmY/y47TARWs6kMUvLgrWwMUszbjsOYuD3C3v78Ycf37YZ2PPzAxk/t1Xb87M3P3yMTwsKYAbHEjOxykGA8QcpqkfBKBgFo2DEAABlCjZKNlEj6gAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3327-0181","institution":"Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Filiz","middleName":"","lastName":"Tezcan","suffix":""},{"id":558435482,"identity":"b0609595-5935-49cf-a0d7-ebb27d050b8d","order_by":1,"name":"Cas Coopmans","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Cas","middleName":"","lastName":"Coopmans","suffix":""},{"id":558435483,"identity":"29475ab9-e53b-4525-b418-84c53e04ee1c","order_by":2,"name":"Andrea Martin","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3395-7234","institution":"Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Andrea","middleName":"","lastName":"Martin","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-12-03 10:51:13","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8269283/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8269283/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":100951722,"identity":"da84a2f4-2bb4-4382-983b-a0055c5fa424","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-01-23 07:11:08","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1837194,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Tezcanetal2025NeuralTrackingofLanguageEmergesfromDistributedSynchronizationandSensitivitytoSyntaxandStatistics.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8269283/v1_covered_0663e9a0-71d1-4dc6-ba5f-5caa5ba49760.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Neural Tracking of Language Emerges from Distributed Synchronization, Sensitivity to Syntax, and Statistics","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"nature-portfolio","isNatureJournal":true,"hasQc":false,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Nature Portfolio","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":false,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"ejp","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8269283/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8269283/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eNeural tracking, how brain activity synchronizes with speech, remains contentious regarding whether it's driven by lexical statistical information or linguistic structures. 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