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Cerebral Cortex Advance Access originally published online on November 9, 2005
Cerebral Cortex 2006 16(9):1266-1275; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhj068
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Hemispheric Specialization for Processing Auditory Nonspeech Stimuli

Helen L. Jamison1,2, Kate E. Watkins1,2, Dorothy V. M. Bishop2 and Paul M. Matthews1

1 Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain and 2 Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

Address correspondence to Helen L. Jamison, Centre for Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford OX3 9DU, UK. Email: jamison{at}fmrib.ox.ac.uk.

The left hemisphere specialization for speech perception might arise from asymmetries at more basic levels of auditory processing. In particular, it has been suggested that differences in "temporal" and "spectral" processing exist between the hemispheres. Here we used functional magnetic resonance imaging to test this hypothesis further. Fourteen healthy volunteers listened to sequences of alternating pure tones that varied in the temporal and spectral domains. Increased temporal variation was associated with activation in Heschl's gyrus (HG) bilaterally, whereas increased spectral variation activated the superior temporal gyrus (STG) bilaterally and right posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS). Responses to increased temporal variation were lateralized to the left hemisphere; this left lateralization was greater in posteromedial HG, which is presumed to correspond to the primary auditory cortex. Responses to increased spectral variation were lateralized to the right hemisphere specifically in the anterior STG and posterior STS. These findings are consistent with the notion that the hemispheres are differentially specialized for processing auditory stimuli even in the absence of linguistic information.

Key Words: asymmetry • fMRI • lateralization • spectral • temporal


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