title: Listen to Yourself: The Medial Prefrontal Cortex Modulates Auditory Alpha Power During Speech Preparation.
abstract: How do we process stimuli that stem from the external world and stimuli that are self-generated? In the case of voice perception it has been shown that evoked activity elicited by self-generated sounds is suppressed compared with the same sounds played-back externally. We here wanted to reveal whether neural excitability of the auditory cortex-putatively reflected in local alpha band power--is modulated already prior to speech onset, and which brain regions may mediate such a top-down preparatory response. In the left auditory cortex we show that the typical alpha suppression found when participants prepare to listen disappears when participants expect a self-spoken sound. This suggests an inhibitory adjustment of auditory cortical activity already before sound onset. As a second main finding we demonstrate that the medial prefrontal cortex, a region known for self-referential processes, mediates these condition-specific alpha power modulations. This provides crucial insights into how higher-order regions prepare the auditory cortex for the processing of self-generated sounds. Furthermore, the mechanism outlined could provide further explanations to self-referential phenomena, such as "tickling yourself". Finally, it has implications for the so-far unsolved question of how auditory alpha power is mediated by higher-order regions in a more general sense.
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Università degli Studi di Trento, 38123 Mattarello (TN), Italy Department of Neurology, Epilepsy Center, University Hospital Erlangen, 91054 Erlangen, Germany.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.affiliation: Department for Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
authors.forename: Sabine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Leske
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Università degli Studi di Trento, 38123 Mattarello (TN), Italy.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.affiliation: Department for Neuropsychology, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, 6500 Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Szabolcs
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Szebényi
authors.affiliation: Center for Mind/Brain Sciences, Università degli Studi di Trento, 38123 Mattarello (TN), Italy.
authors.forename: Nathan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weisz
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000513:Alpha Rhythm; D001303:Auditory Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D001306:Auditory Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000502:physiology*; D005072:Evoked Potentials, Auditory; D056228:Feedback, Sensory; D005260:Female; D005583:Fourier Analysis; D007839:Functional Laterality; D006801:Humans; D015225:Magnetoencephalography; D008297:Male; D010700:Phonetics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: MEG; effective connectivity; efference copy; oscillation; top-down