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The Journal of Neuroscience, December 3, 2008, 28(49):13209-13215; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2903-08.2008

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Behavioral/Systems/Cognitive
The Cortical Dynamics of Intelligible Speech

Alexander P. Leff,¹ Thomas M. Schofield,¹ Klass E. Stephan,^1,2 Jennifer T. Crinion,¹ Karl J. Friston,¹ and Cathy J. Price¹

¹Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, University College London, London WC1N 3BG, United Kingdom, and ²Branco-Weiss-Laboratory for Social and Neural Systems Research, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics, University of Zurich, CH-8006 Zurich, Switzerland

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Alexander P. Leff, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Email: a.leff{at}fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk

An important and unresolved question is how the human brain processes speech for meaning after initial analyses in early auditory cortical regions. A variety of left-hemispheric areas have been identified that clearly support semantic processing, although a systematic analysis of directed interactions among these areas is lacking. We applied dynamic causal modeling of functional magnetic resonance imaging responses and Bayesian model selection to investigate, for the first time, experimentally induced changes in coupling among three key multimodal regions that were activated by intelligible speech: the posterior and anterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS and aSTS, respectively) and pars orbitalis (POrb) of the inferior frontal gyrus. We tested 216 different dynamic causal models and found that the best model was a "forward" system that was driven by auditory inputs into the pSTS, with forward connections from the pSTS to both the aSTS and the POrb that increased considerably in strength (by 76 and 150%, respectively) when subjects listened to intelligible speech. Task-related, directional effects can now be incorporated into models of speech comprehension.

Key words: intelligibility; speech; dynamic causal modeling; connectivity; language; fMRI

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Received June 24, 2008; revised Aug. 21, 2008; accepted Sept. 18, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Alexander P. Leff, Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, 12 Queen Square, London WC1N 3BG, UK. Email: a.leff{at}fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. P. Leff, T. M. Schofield, J. T. Crinion, M. L. Seghier, A. Grogan, D. W. Green, and C. J. Price The left superior temporal gyrus is a shared substrate for auditory short-term memory and speech comprehension: evidence from 210 patients with stroke Brain, November 5, 2009; (2009) awp273v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. M. Schofield, P. Iverson, S. J. Kiebel, K. E. Stephan, J. M. Kilner, K. J. Friston, J. T. Crinion, C. J. Price, and A. P. Leff Changing meaning causes coupling changes within higher levels of the cortical hierarchy PNAS, July 14, 2009; 106(28): 11765 - 11770. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				M. L. Seghier and C. J. Price Reading Aloud Boosts Connectivity through the Putamen Cereb Cortex, June 26, 2009; (2009) bhp123v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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