The human voice areas: Spatial organisation and inter-individual variability in temporal and extra-temporal cortices
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DOI
FMRI studies increasingly examine functions and properties of non-primary areas of human
auditory cortex. However there is currently no standardized localization procedure to reliably identify
specific areas across individuals such as the standard 'localizers' available in the visual domain. Here
we present an fMRI 'voice localizer' scan allowing rapid and reliable localization of the voice-sensitive
'temporal voice areas' (TVA) of human auditory cortex. We describe results obtained using this
standardized localizer scan in a large cohort of normal adult subjects. Most participants (94%) showed
bilateral patches of significantly greater response to vocal than non-vocal sounds along the superior
temporal sulcus/gyrus (STS/STG). Individual activation patterns, although reproducible, showed high
inter-individual variability in precise anatomical location. Cluster analysis of individual peaks from the
large cohort highlighted three bilateral clusters of voice-sensitivity, or "voice patches" along posterior
(TVAp), mid (TVAm) and anterior (TVAa) STS/STG, respectively. A series of extra-temporal areas
including bilateral inferior prefrontal cortex and amygdalae showed small, but reliable voicesensitivity
as part of a large-scale cerebral voice network. Stimuli for the voice localizer scan and
probabilistic maps in MNI space are available for download.
Keywords
- NEUROIMAGING, NEUROSCIENCES
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 164–174 |
Journal | Neuroimage |
Volume | 119 |
Issue number | 1 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 18 Jun 2015 |
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