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Stimulating the Lip Motor Cortex with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Published on: June 14, 2014
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Beta rhythm modulation by speech sounds: somatotopic mapping in somatosensory cortex
Eleonora Bartoli1, Laura Maffongelli1, Claudio Campus1
1Robotics, Brain and Cognitive Sciences (RBCS) Department, Italian Institute of Technology, Genova, Italy.
Scientific Reports
|August 9, 2016
Summary
Listening to speech activates motor regions, suggesting sensory input can inform motor commands. This study shows heard speech sounds map to somatosensory cortices, impacting neural processing based on articulation.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Auditory Perception
- Somatosensory Processing
Background:
- Motor regions activate during speech listening, mirroring speech production.
- Anticipation of somatosensory feedback is crucial for articulatory motor control.
- Evidence linking auditory speech processing to somatosensory activity is limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate interactions between auditory speech and somatosensory cortical processing.
- Determine if auditory speech identification affects sensorimotor electroencephalographic rhythms during peripheral lip stimulation.
- Explore somatotopic mapping of heard speech in the somatosensory cortex.
Main Methods:
- Utilized an auditory speech identification task with bilabial and dental sounds.
- Applied peripheral electrical stimulation to the lips.
- Measured electroencephalographic (EEG) rhythms, focusing on beta rebound as an indicator of somatosensory processing.
- Analyzed spectral perturbations following stimulation.
Main Results:
- Observed a left-lateralized reduction in beta rebound after lip stimulation during listening to bilabial sounds.
- This reduction suggests somatosensory processing was interrupted.
- Indicates recruitment of shared neural resources between auditory speech perception and somatosensory processing.
Conclusions:
- Heard speech sounds are somatotopically mapped onto the somatosensory cortex based on place of articulation.
- Auditory speech perception engages neural resources also involved in somatosensory processing.
- Demonstrates a direct link between auditory speech perception and the somatosensory system.
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