Is neural speech tracking true oscillatory entrainment or evoked responses?

Establish whether low-frequency neural tracking of attended speech in human auditory cortex represents genuine oscillatory entrainment or is better explained by a succession of evoked responses to acoustic edge events or linguistically defined boundaries.

Background

Enhancements of speech tracking with attention are well-documented, but whether they reflect entrainment of endogenous oscillations remains debated. An evoked-response account posits that tracking arises from stereotyped responses to acoustic edges or linguistic boundaries.

Resolving this issue will clarify mechanistic interpretations of a central signature of auditory attention and guide methodological approaches to dissociate oscillatory from evoked contributions.