title: Top-down and bottom-up processes in speech comprehension.
abstract: Speech comprehension includes both bottom-up and top-down processes, and imaging studies have isolated a frontal-temporal network of brain areas active during speech perception. However, the precise role of the various areas in this network during normal speech comprehension is not yet fully understood. In the present fMRI study, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of spoken sentences was varied in 144 steps, and speech intelligibility was measured independently in order to study in detail its effect on the activation of brain areas involved in speech perception. Relative to noise alone, intelligible speech in noise evoked spatially extended activation in left frontal, bilateral temporal, and medial occipital brain regions. Increasing SNR led to a sigmoid-shaped increase of activation in all areas of the frontal-temporal network. The onset of the activation with respect to SNR was similar in temporal and frontal regions, but frontal activation was found to be smaller than temporal activation at the highest SNRs. Finally, only Broca's area (BA44) showed activation to unintelligible speech presented at low SNRs. These findings demonstrate distinct roles of frontal and temporal areas in speech comprehension in that temporal regions subserve bottom-up processing of speech, whereas frontal areas are more involved in top-down supplementary mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cognitive Psychology, VU University, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Adriana A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Zekveld
authors.forename: Dirk J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Heslenfeld
authors.forename: Joost M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Festen
authors.forename: Ruurd
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Schoonhoven
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005625:Frontal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009778:Occipital Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D010100:Oxygen / Q000097:blood; D010775:Photic Stimulation; D011597:Psychomotor Performance / Q000502:physiology; D021641:Recognition, Psychology / Q000502:physiology; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D013702:Temporal Lobe / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D010100:Oxygen