title: Speech-specific auditory processing: where is it?
abstract: Are speech-specific processes localized in dedicated cortical regions or do they emerge from developmental plasticity in the connections among non-dedicated regions? Here we claim that all the brain regions activated by the processing of auditory speech can be re-classified according to whether they respond to non-verbal environmental sounds, pitch changes, unfamiliar melodies, or conceptual processes. We therefore argue that speech-specific processing emerges from differential demands on auditory and conceptual processes that are shared by speech and non-speech stimuli. This has implications for domain- vs. process-specific cognitive models, and for the relative importance of segregation and integration in functional anatomy.
authors.affiliation: Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience, Institute of Neurology, London, WC1N 3BG, UK. c.price@fil.ion.ucl.ac.uk
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Price
authors.forename: Guillaume
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Thierry
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Griffiths
mesh_terms: D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000098:blood supply / Q000502:physiology*; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation / Q000502:physiology; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology*; D003210:Concept Formation; D004777:Environment; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009146:Music; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology; D013060:Speech / Q000502:physiology*; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology