Cited by 189Neuroscience and Music PerceptionNeurobiology of Language and BilingualismPhonetics and Phonology Research

Locating the initial stages of speech-sound processing in human temporal cortex

Uppenkamp, Stefan, Johnsrude, Ingrid S., Norris, Dennis, Marslen-Wilson, William, Patterson, Roy D.·2006·NeuroImage

Abstract

It is commonly assumed that, in the cochlea and the brainstem, the auditory system processes speech sounds without differentiating them from any other sounds. At some stage, however, it must treat speech sounds and nonspeech sounds differently, since we perceive them as different. The purpose of this study was to delimit the first location in the auditory pathway that makes this distinction using functional MRI, by identifying regions that are differentially sensitive to the internal structure of speech sounds as opposed to closely matched control sounds. We analyzed data from nine right-handed volunteers who were scanned while listening to natural and synthetic vowels, or to nonspeech stimuli matched to the vowel sounds in terms of their long-term energy and both their spectral and temporal profiles. The vowels produced more activation than nonspeech sounds in a bilateral region of the superior temporal sulcus, lateral and inferior to regions of auditory cortex that were activated by both vowels and nonspeech stimuli. The results suggest that the perception of vowel sounds is compatible with a hierarchical model of primate auditory processing in which early cortical stages of processing respond indiscriminately to speech and nonspeech sounds, and only higher regions, beyond anatomically defined auditory cortex, show selectivity for speech sounds.

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Crossref · 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2006.01.004

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  • In the anterior processing stream, activation is typically observed when acoustic complexity is not controlled, even when familiarity and conceptual content are matched by comparing speech to familiar environmental sounds.

    “A contrasting pattern of response was observed in the anterior processing stream where activation was typically observed when acoustic complexity was not controlled (Obleser et al., 2006; Uppenkamp et al., 2006; Binder et al., 2004), even when familiarity and conceptual content were matched by comparing speech to familiar environmental sounds (Specht and Reul, 2003; Thierry et al., 2003; Thierry”

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Authors
Uppenkamp, S., Johnsrude, I. S., Norris, D., Marslen-Wilson, W., & Patterson, R. D.
Affiliations
  • Carl von Ossietzky Universität Oldenburg (DE)
  • MRC Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit (GB)
  • University of Cambridge (GB)
Corresponding author
Uppenkamp, Stefan
Venue
NeuroImage
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2006-07
Volume
31
Issue
3
Pages
1284-1296
ISSN
1053-8119 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2107911922
Cited by
189
References
93
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 8 · 2016: 11 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 15 · 2012: 9
FWCI
7.29
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • NeuroImage (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
Medical Research Council
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
Keywords
speech perception, temporal cortex, superior temporal sulcus, auditory cortex, vowel perception, hierarchical auditory processing, auditory pathway
MeSH terms
Adult, Attention, Auditory Cortex, Auditory Pathways, Auditory Perception, Brain Mapping, Dominance, Cerebral, Female, Humans, Image Processing, Computer-Assisted, Loudness Perception, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Oxygen, Phonetics, Pitch Perception, Sound Spectrography, Speech Acoustics, Speech Perception, Temporal Lobe

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