title: Influence of speech stimuli intensity on the activation of auditory cortex investigated with functional magnetic resonance imaging.
abstract: Understanding the impact of variations in the acoustic signal is critical for the development of auditory and language fMRI as an experimental tool. We describe the dependence of the BOLD signal and speech intelligibility on the intensity of auditory stimuli. Eighteen subjects were imaged on a 1.5-T MRI scanner. Speech stimuli were English monosyllabic words played at five intensity levels. Intrasubject reproducibility was measured on one subject by presenting the stimulus five times at the same intensity level. Intelligibility was measured during data acquisition as subjects signaled when hearing two targets. Each functional trial consisted of four cycles (30 s off-30 s on). Five oblique slices covering primary and association auditory areas were imaged. Activated voxels were identified by cross-correlation analysis and their percent signal change (delta S) was measured. Intersubject differences in activation extent, asymmetry, and dependence on intensity were striking. Volume of activation was significantly greater in the left than in the right hemisphere. Intrasubject reproducibility for delta S was higher than for volume of activation. delta S and intelligibility showed a similar dependence on intensity suggesting that not only intensity but also intelligibility affect the fMRI signal.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering Science, University of Florida, Gainesville 32610, USA.
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Mohr
authors.forename: W M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: King
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Freeman
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Briggs
authors.forename: C M
authors.initials: CM
authors.lastname: Leonard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*