Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex01:14

Motor and Sensory Areas of the Cortex

The cerebral cortex, the brain's outermost layer, is pivotal in processing complex cognitive tasks, emotions, and various sensory inputs and executing voluntary motor activities. This intricate structure is divided into three primary functional areas: the motor areas, sensory areas, and association areas.
Motor Areas
The motor areas located in the frontal lobe are central to controlling voluntary movements. This region is further subdivided into the primary motor cortex and the premotor cortex.

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Regional topography of auditory and visual attention: An fMRI-based meta-analysis.

Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews·2026
Same author

Selective Attention Shapes Neural Representations of Complex Auditory Scenes: The Roles of Object Identity and Scene Composition.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience·2025
Same author

Similarity in Early Life Stress Exposure Is Associated With Similarity in Neural Representations in Early Adulthood.

Human brain mapping·2025
Same author

Attenuated processing of task-irrelevant speech and other auditory stimuli: fMRI evidence from arithmetic tasks.

The European journal of neuroscience·2024
Same author

Developmental dyslexia susceptibility genes DNAAF4, DCDC2, and NRSN1 are associated with brain function in fluently reading adolescents and young adults.

Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991)·2024
Same author

Attention to audiovisual speech shapes neural processing through feedback-feedforward loops between different nodes of the speech network.

PLoS biology·2024

Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 27, 2026

Reversible Cooling-induced Deactivations to Study Cortical Contributions to Obstacle Memory in the Walking Cat
09:43

Reversible Cooling-induced Deactivations to Study Cortical Contributions to Obstacle Memory in the Walking Cat

Published on: December 11, 2017

Task-dependent activations of human auditory cortex during spatial discrimination and spatial memory tasks.

Teemu Rinne1, Sonja Koistinen, Suvi Talja

  • 1Institute of Behavioural Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland. teemu.rinne@helsinki.fi

Neuroimage
|November 9, 2011
PubMed
Summary

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) reveals distinct human auditory cortex (AC) activations for spatial discrimination versus spatial memory tasks. Task demands, not just stimulus type, shape AC activity patterns.

More Related Videos

Mapping the After-effects of Theta Burst Stimulation on the Human Auditory Cortex with Functional Imaging
10:09

Mapping the After-effects of Theta Burst Stimulation on the Human Auditory Cortex with Functional Imaging

Published on: September 12, 2012

Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning
08:43

Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning

Published on: October 22, 2015

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: May 27, 2026

Reversible Cooling-induced Deactivations to Study Cortical Contributions to Obstacle Memory in the Walking Cat
09:43

Reversible Cooling-induced Deactivations to Study Cortical Contributions to Obstacle Memory in the Walking Cat

Published on: December 11, 2017

Mapping the After-effects of Theta Burst Stimulation on the Human Auditory Cortex with Functional Imaging
10:09

Mapping the After-effects of Theta Burst Stimulation on the Human Auditory Cortex with Functional Imaging

Published on: September 12, 2012

Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning
08:43

Combined Shuttle-Box Training with Electrophysiological Cortex Recording and Stimulation as a Tool to Study Perception and Learning

Published on: October 22, 2015

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Auditory Neuroscience
  • Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

  • The functional organization of the human auditory cortex (AC) is complex and influenced by various factors.
  • Previous research suggests task-specific activations within the AC, but the precise role of task parameters remains debated.
  • Understanding AC functional topography is crucial for deciphering auditory processing and cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate and compare brain activations in the human auditory cortex (AC) and adjacent regions during spatial discrimination and spatial memory tasks using high-resolution fMRI.
  • To examine how parametric variations in task difficulty influence AC activation patterns for these distinct cognitive tasks.
  • To determine if task-related factors, beyond stimulus properties, significantly shape AC activity.

Main Methods:

  • Employed high-resolution functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity.
  • Utilized spatial discrimination and spatial n-back memory tasks with parametrically varied difficulty levels.
  • Analyzed activation patterns in the auditory cortex (AC) and surrounding areas, including the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) and inferior parietal lobule (IPL).

Main Results:

  • Spatial discrimination tasks elicited stronger activations in the anterior superior temporal gyrus (STG) compared to spatial memory tasks.
  • Spatial memory tasks showed stronger activations in the inferior parietal lobule (IPL) and significant deactivation in wide AC areas.
  • Observed AC activation patterns were highly consistent with previous findings for pitch-based discrimination and memory tasks, indicating a general anterior-posterior division based on task type.

Conclusions:

  • Human AC activation is significantly influenced by the behavioral task demands (discrimination vs. memory), not solely by stimulus characteristics (e.g., spatial vs. nonspatial).
  • A distinct anterior-posterior functional division within the AC is evident for both spatially invariant (pitch) and spatially varying (spatial) auditory tasks.
  • Further systematic investigation into task-related factors is essential for a comprehensive understanding of the AC's functional architecture.