Abstract
To investigate how auditory input from each ear contributes to spoken language processing, cortical activation by monaural speech sound stimulation was examined in 12 normal subjects using15O-labeled water positron emission tomography. Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) was measured under four different sound stimulation conditions: (1) silence, (2) white noise, (3) sequential Japanese sentences (“speech”), and (4) Japanese sentences played backward (“reversed speech”), and the results were evaluated by statistical parametric mapping (SPM). Noise induced significant rCBF increase in the contralateral Heschl’s gyrus. Speech and reversed speech stimuli caused significant rCBF increase in the contralateral Heschl’s gyrus and the bilateral superior temporal gyri, with contralateral activation broader than that in the ipsilateral hemisphere. Monaurally input speech sound signals that reach the contralateral Heschl’s gyrus may be processed chiefly and phonologically in the surrounding superior temporal gyrus in the same hemisphere. Comparison of speech activation with reversed speech activation failed to demonstrate a significant difference, which made it difficult to identify the area for lexical and semantic processing.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Berry I, Demonet JF, Warach S, Viallard G, Boulanouar, Franconi JM, Marc-Vergnes JP, Edelman R, Manelfe C (1995) Activation of association auditory cortex demonstrated with functional MRI. Neuroimage 2:215–219
Creutsfeldt O, Ojemann G (1987) Single neuron activity in the right and left human temporal lobe during listening and speaking. In: Engel J Jr (ed) Fundamental mechanisms of human brain function. Raven, New York, pp 69–81
Demonet JF, Chollet F, Ramsay S, Cardebat D, Nespoulous JL, Wise R, Rascol A, Frackowiak R (1992) The anatomy of phonological and semantic processing in normal subjects. Brain 115:1753–1768
Demonet JF, Price C, Wise R, Frackowiak RSJ (1994) Differential activation of right and left posterior sylvian regions by semantic and phonological tasks: a positron-emission tomography study in normal human subjects. Neurosci 182:25–28
Elberling C, Bak C, Kofored B, Lebech J, Saemark K (1981) Auditory magnetic fields from the human cortex. Influence of stimulus intensity. Scand Audiol 10:203–207
Friston KJ, Frith CD, Liddle PF, Frackowiak RSJ (1991a) Plastic transformation of PET images. J Comput Assist Tomogr 156: 34–639
Friston KJ, Frith CD, Liddle PF, Frackowiak RSJ (1991b) Comparing function (PET) images: the assessment of significant change. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 11:690–699
Howard D, Patterson K, Wise R, Brown WD, Friston K, Weiller C, Frackowiak R (1992) The cortical localization of the lexicons. Brain 115:1769–1782
Leiner HC, Leiner AL, Dow RS (1993) Cognitive and language functions of the human cerebellum. Trends Neurosci 16:444–447
Naito Y, Okazawa H, Honjo I, Hirano S, Takahashi T, Shiomi Y, Hoji W, Kawano M, Ishizu K, Nishizawa S, Yonekura Y (1995) Cortical activation with sound stimulation in cochlear implant users demonstrated by Positron Emission Tomography. Brain Res Cogn Brain Res 2:207–214
Nishizawa Y, Olsen TS, Larsen B, Lassen NA (1982) Left-right cortical asymmetrics of regional cerebral blood flow during listening to words. J Neurophysiol 48:458–466
Pantev Ch, Lukenhoner B, Hoke M, Lehnertz K (1986) Comparison between simultaneously recorded auditory-evoked magnetic fields and potentials elicited by ipsilateral, contralateral and binaural tone burst stimulation. Audiology 25:54–61
Penfield W, Jasper H (1954) Epilepsy and the functional anatomy of the human brain. Litte, Boston
Petersen SE, Fox PT, Posner MI, Mintun M, Raichel ME (1988) Positron emission tomographic studies of cortical anatomy of single word processing. Nature 331:583–589
Petersen SE, Fox PT, Posner MI, Mintun M, Raichle ME (1989) Positron emission tomographic studies of the processing of single words. J Cogn Neurosci 1:153–170
Pickles JO (1988) An introduction of the physiology of hearing. Academic, London
Reite M, Zimmerman JT, Zimmerman JE (1981) Magnetic auditory evoked fields: interhemispheric asymmetry. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 51:388–392
Sadato N, Yonekura Y, Senda M, Magata, Y, Iwasaki, Y, Matoba N, Tsuchida T, Tamaki N, Fukuyama H, Shibasaki H, Konishi J (1993) Noninvasive tomography using a mechanical injector and a standard arterial input function. IEEE Trans Med Imag 12:703–710
Talairach J, Tournoux P (1988) Co-planar stereotaxic atlas of the human brain. Thieme, Stuttgart
Wada J (1960) Intracarotid injection of sodium amytal for the lateralization of cerebral speech dominance. J Neurosurg 17: 266–282
Wise R, Chollet F, Hadar U, Friston K, Hoffner E, Frackowiak R (1991) Distribution of cortical neural networks involved in word comprehension and word retrieval. Brain 114: 1803–1817
Zattore RJ, Evans AC, Meyer E, Gjedde A (1992) Lateralization of phonetic and pitch discrimination in speech processing. Science 256:846–849
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Hirano, S., Naito, Y., Okazawa, H. et al. Cortical activation by monaural speech sound stimulation demonstrated by positron emission tomography. Exp Brain Res 113, 75–80 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02454143
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02454143