title: Functional imaging of the auditory processing applied to speech sounds.
abstract: In this paper, we describe domain-general auditory processes that we believe are prerequisite to the linguistic analysis of speech. We discuss biological evidence for these processes and how they might relate to processes that are specific to human speech and language. We begin with a brief review of (i) the anatomy of the auditory system and (ii) the essential properties of speech sounds. Section 4 describes the general auditory mechanisms that we believe are applied to all communication sounds, and how functional neuroimaging is being used to map the brain networks associated with domain-general auditory processing. Section 5 discusses recent neuroimaging studies that explore where such general processes give way to those that are specific to human speech and language.
authors.affiliation: Centre for the Neural Basis of Hearing, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EG, UK. rdp1@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Roy D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Patterson
authors.forename: Ingrid S
authors.initials: IS
authors.lastname: Johnsrude
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D008251:Macaca / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008959:Models, Neurological; D013016:Sound; D013067:Speech Perception / Q000502:physiology*