The noise-resilient brain: Resting-state oscillatory activity predicts words-in-noise recognition

The role of neuronal oscillations in the processing of speech has recently come to prominence. Since resting-state (RS) brain activity has been shown to predict both task-related brain activation and behavioural performance, we set out to establish whether inter-individual differences in spectrally-resolved RS-MEG power are associated with variations in words-in-noise recognition in a sample of 88 participants made available by the Human Connectome Project. Positive associations with resilience to noise were observed with power in the range 21 and 29 Hz in a number of areas along the left temporal gyrus and temporo-parietal association areas peaking in left posterior superior temporal gyrus (pSTG). Significant associations were also found in the right posterior superior temporal gyrus in the frequency range 30-40 Hz. We propose that individual differences in words-in-noise performance are related to baseline excitability levels of the neural substrates of phonological processing.