Human primary motor cortex shows hemispheric specialization for speech
Abstract
Hemispheric specialization is a prominent characteristic of the human brain. Should the 'dominant' hemisphere possess differential neural organization for language production in the 'higher order' cortex, it would be rational to consider that the primary motor cortex may also show similar hemispheric specialization for speech production. In order to test this hypothesis, we investigated the spatial distribution of neural activities associated with phonation (M1p), silent tongue motion (M1t), and vocalization (M1v) within the primary motor cortex, utilizing independent component-cross correlation-sequential epoch analysis of high-field functional magnetic resonance imaging time series. While M1t showed no significant differences between the two hemispheres, M1p and M1v exhibited significant hemispheric differences. The study demonstrated direct evidence that human primary motor cortex possesses clear-cut hemispheric specialization similar to that observed for the higher order cortices.
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Left lateralized activation in primary motor cortex for phonation is contrasted with bilateral activation for tongue movements.
“Similarly, left lateralized activation in the primary motor cortex for phonation was contrasted to bilateral activation for tongue movements (Terumitsu et al., 2006).”
From A review and synthesis of the first 20years of PET and fMRI studies of heard speech, spoken language and reading (2012) · cites this paper as Terumitsu et al., 2006
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- Authors
- Terumitsu, M., Fujii, Y., Suzuki, K., Kwee, I. L., & Nakada, T.
- Affiliations
- Brain Research Institute, Niigata University (JP)
- University of California, Davis (US)
- Corresponding author
- Nakada, Tsutomu
- Venue
- Neuroreport
- Published
- 2006-07-31
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 11
- Pages
- 1091-1095
- ISSN
- 0959-4965 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2136256843
- Cited by
- 45
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 1 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 2 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Neuroreport (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Hemispheric Asymmetry in Neuroscience
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
- Keywords
- hemispheric lateralization, primary motor cortex, speech production, phonation, vocalizations, language dominance, independent component analysis, cross correlation function, high-field fMRI
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Brain Mapping, Humans, Laryngeal Nerves, Functional Laterality, Motor Cortex, Pharynx, Phonation, Speech, Tongue
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