The role of left vs. right superior temporal gyrus in speech perception: An fMRI-guided TMS study
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Siavash Pasalar; Randi C. Martin; Qiuhai Yue; Aurora I. Ramos Nunez
- Source
- Brain and language. 209
- Subject
- Left and right
Male
Linguistics and Language
medicine.medical_specialty
Speech perception
genetic structures
Adolescent
Cognitive Neuroscience
media_common.quotation_subject
Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
Audiology
behavioral disciplines and activities
050105 experimental psychology
Language and Linguistics
Functional Laterality
03 medical and health sciences
Speech and Hearing
Superior temporal gyrus
Young Adult
0302 clinical medicine
Perception
Task Performance and Analysis
medicine
Premovement neuronal activity
Humans
0501 psychology and cognitive sciences
Right superior temporal gyrus
media_common
Brain Mapping
05 social sciences
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Temporal Lobe
nervous system
Speech Perception
Female
Psychology
Occipital lobe
psychological phenomena and processes
030217 neurology & neurosurgery
Right anterior
- Language
- ISSN
- 1090-2155
Debate continues regarding the necessary role of right superior temporal gyrus (STG) regions in sublexical speech perception given the bilateral STG activation often observed in fMRI studies. To evaluate the causal roles, TMS pulses were delivered to inhibit and disrupt neuronal activity at the left and right STG regions during a nonword discrimination task based on peak activations from a blocked fMRI paradigm assessing speech vs. nonspeech perception (N = 20). Relative to a control region located in the posterior occipital lobe, TMS to the left anterior STG (laSTG) led to significantly worse accuracy, whereas TMS to the left posterior STG (lpSTG) and right anterior STG (raSTG) did not. Although the disruption from TMS was significantly greater for the laSTG than for raSTG, the difference in accuracy between the laSTG and lpSTG did not reach significance. The results argue for a causal role of the laSTG but not raSTG in speech perception. Further research is needed to establish the source of the differences between the laSTG and lpSTG.