Evidence for somatosensory evoked responses in human temporal lobe

Processing of somatosensory input in rhesus monkey is known to involve unimodal and polymodal association cortex within the the first superior temporal sulcus (STS) of the temporal lobe. The present study provides evidence for the activation of homologous structures in normal human subjects. Neuromagnetic evoked responses to intermittent unilateral median nerves stimulation were generated within the temporal lobe at 72-96 ms, with responses in the contralateral hemisphere leading those in ipsilateral cortex by 18 ms. The latency of these responses suggests that somatosensory information is available for integration with input from other sensory modalities in temporal cortex quite early in the processing stage.