Previous studies demonstrated that brain signals encode information about specific features of simple auditory stimuli or of general aspects of natural auditory stimuli. How brain signals represent the time course of specific features in natural auditory stimuli is not well understood. In this study, we show in eight human subjects that signals recorded from the surface of the brain (electrocorticography (ECoG)) encode information about the sound intensity of music. ECoG activity in the high gamma band recorded from the posterior part of the superior temporal gyrus as well as from an isolated area in the precentral gyrus was observed to be highly correlated with the sound intensity of music. These results not only confirm the role of auditory cortices in auditory processing but also point to an important role of premotor and motor cortices. They also encourage the use of ECoG activity to study more complex acoustic features of simple or natural auditory stimuli.
Pubmed ID: 22537600 RIS Download
Publication data is provided by the National Library of Medicine ® and PubMed ®. Data is retrieved from PubMed ® on a weekly schedule. For terms and conditions see the National Library of Medicine Terms and Conditions.
Center dedicated to understanding and treatment of neurological diseases by creating and using imaging methods to study human nervous system. Dedicated to research imaging of human brain. Brain structure is imaged using anatomical Magnetic Resonance Imaging (aMRI) while brain physiology is imaged using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS), functional MRI (fMRI) and magnetoencephalography (MEG). BIC maintains linkages with clinical, clinical research and basic research communities within Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI), McGill University and has collaborations across Quebec, Canada, USA and internationally.
View all literature mentions