An fMRI investigation of syllable sequence production.

Full Abstract

Fluent speech comprises sequences that are composed from a finite alphabet of learned words, syllables, and phonemes. The sequencing of discrete motor behaviors has received much attention in the motor control literature, but relatively little has been focused directly on speech production. In this paper, we investigate the cortical and subcortical regions involved in organizing and enacting sequences of simple speech sounds. Sparse event-triggered functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure responses to preparation and overt production of non-lexical three-syllable utterances, parameterized by two factors:
syllable complexity and sequence complexity. The comparison of overt production trials to preparation only trials revealed a network related to the initiation of a speech plan, control of the articulators, and to hearing one's own voice. This network included the primary motor and somatosensory cortices, auditory cortical areas, supplementary motor area (SMA), the precentral gyrus of the insula, and portions of the thalamus, basal ganglia, and cerebellum. Additional stimulus complexity led to increased engagement of the basic speech network and recruitment of additional areas known to be involved in sequencing non-speech motor acts. In particular, the left hemisphere inferior frontal sulcus and posterior parietal cortex, and bilateral regions at the junction of the anterior insula and frontal operculum, the SMA and pre-SMA, the basal ganglia, anterior thalamus, and the cerebellum showed increased activity for more complex stimuli. We hypothesize mechanistic roles for the extended speech production network in the organization and execution of sequences of speech sounds.

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Author information

Author/s: Bohland, Jason W (JW); Guenther, Frank H (FH);

Affiliation: Department of Cognitive and Neural Systems, Boston University, 677 Beacon Street, Boston, MA 02215, USA. jbohland(-atsign-)cns.bu.edu

Grants: P41RR14075 (Agency:NCRR NIH HHS) ; R01 DC02852 (Agency:NIDCD NIH HHS)

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: NeuroImage (Neuroimage), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Aug; vol 32 (issue 2) : pp 821-41

Dates: Created 2006/08/07; Completed 2006/10/18; Revised 2007/11/14;

PMID: 16730195, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 12/26/2008)

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adult
Attention - physiology
Basal Ganglia - physiology
Brain Mapping
Cerebellum - physiology
Cerebral Cortex - physiology
Dominance, Cerebral - physiology
Female
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted

Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Imaging, Three-Dimensional
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Phonetics
Semantics
Speech - physiology
Speech Perception - physiology
Thalamus - physiology
Verbal Behavior - physiology

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