Cited by 63Neurobiology of Language and BilingualismPhonetics and Phonology ResearchTactile and Sensory Interactions

Functional and Quantitative MRI Mapping of Somatomotor Representations of Human Supralaryngeal Vocal Tract

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Carey, Daniel, Krishnan, Saloni, Callaghan, Martina F., Sereno, Martin I., Dick, Frederic·2017·Cerebral Cortex

Abstract

Speech articulation requires precise control of and coordination between the effectors of the vocal tract (e.g., lips, tongue, soft palate, and larynx). However, it is unclear how the cortex represents movements of and contact between these effectors during speech, or how these cortical responses relate to inter-regional anatomical borders. Here, we used phase-encoded fMRI to map somatomotor representations of speech articulations. Phonetically trained participants produced speech phones, progressing from front (bilabial) to back (glottal) place of articulation. Maps of cortical myelin proxies (R1 = 1/T1) further allowed us to situate functional maps with respect to anatomical borders of motor and somatosensory regions. Across participants, we found a consistent topological map of place of articulation, spanning the central sulcus and primary motor and somatosensory areas, that moved from lateral to inferior as place of articulation progressed from front to back. Phones produced at velar and glottal places of articulation activated the inferior aspect of the central sulcus, but with considerable across-subject variability. R1 maps for a subset of participants revealed that articulator maps extended posteriorly into secondary somatosensory regions. These results show consistent topological organization of cortical representations of the vocal apparatus in the context of speech behavior.

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  • Neural populations in vSMC and midPrCG control millisecond-level movements of vocal-tract articulators that give rise to speech sounds.

    “Neural populations in the ventral sensorimotor cortex (vSMC) and the middle precentral gyrus (midPrCG) control the millisecond-level movements of the vocal-tract articulators (lips, tongue, jaw and larynx) that give rise to speech sounds17,18 (Fig. 2a).”

    From The speech neuroprosthesis (2024) · cites this paper as [18]

    The Abstract (page unavailable) reports somatomotor maps of vocal-tract articulation spanning primary motor and somatosensory areas, and the Results locate articulation-related activity on the precentral gyrus. But the paper does not identify the middle precentral gyrus specifically or establish millisecond-level control by these neural populations. The Discussion (page unavailable) says its findings do not directly address the planning and sequencing of articulator movements. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Jain N, Qi HX, Catania KC, Kaas JH 2001 Anatomic correlates of the face and oral cavity representations in the somatosensory cortical area 3b of monkeys. J Comp Neurol. 429: 455– 468. 11116231
  2. Riecker A, Kassubek J, Groeschel K, Grodd W, Ackermann H 2006 The cerebral control of speech tempo and BOLD signal changes at striatal and cerebellar structures. Neuroimage. 29: 46– 53. 16085428

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Authors
Carey, D., Krishnan, S., Callaghan, M. F., Sereno, M. I., & Dick, F.
Affiliations
  • Royal Holloway University of London (GB)
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging (GB)
  • San Diego State University (US)
  • University College London (GB)
Corresponding author
Carey, Daniel
Venue
Cerebral Cortex
Published
2017-01-08
Volume
27
Issue
1
Pages
265-278
ISSN
  • 1047-3211 (ISSN-L)
  • 1460-2199
OpenAlex
W2571331207
Cited by
63
References
92
Citations by year
2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 9 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 12 · 2018: 8 · 2017: 7
FWCI
5.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Cerebral Cortex (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • BIROn (Birkbeck, University of London) (acceptedVersion)
  • UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Medical Research Council (G0400341, G0700399)
  • Royal Society (RG081218)
  • Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award (081990)
  • European Commission Marie Curie Early Career Training Network (MC-ITN-264301 TRACKDEV)
  • Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging (091593/Z/10/Z)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
Keywords
speech articulation, place of articulation, cortical mapping, central sulcus, primary motor cortex, primary somatosensory cortex, secondary somatosensory cortex, R1 mapping, myelin, speech motor control
MeSH terms
Adult, Brain Mapping, Cerebral Cortex, Female, Humans, Laryngeal Nerves, Larynx, Lip, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Middle Aged, Neural Pathways, Palate, Soft, Tongue, Young Adult

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