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Do you hear what i see?
February 21, 2007New research pinpoints specific areas in sound processing centers in the brains of macaque monkeys that shows enhanced activity when the animals watch a video.
This study confirms a number of recent findings but contradicts classical thinking, in which hearing, taste, touch, sight, and smell are each processed in distinct areas of the brain and only later integrated. The new research, led by Christoph Kayser, PhD, at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen, Germany, was published in the February 21 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience.
"This study confirms that what we used to call the 'auditory cortex' should really be thought of as much more complex in terms of its response properties," says Robert Zatorre, PhD, head of the auditory cognitive neuroscience laboratory at McGill University. "The textbook-standard view of sensory systems as isolated from one another is no longer tenable." Zatorre did not participate in the study.
Kayser's team used functional magnetic resonance imaging to draw a diagram of 11 small, tightly packed fields in the monkeys' auditory cortex. Each field has a separate map that covers the full range of frequencies. Scans recorded activity in the monkeys' brains while they watched a video, with and without sound, and listened separately to the accompanying sound. The researchers found that fields in the hindmost part of the auditory cortex showed activity when the monkeys watched the video without sound, and activity was enhanced when the video was presented simultaneously with the sound.
"This finding suggests that sensory integration, which is so fundamental to complex mental activity, takes place at very early processing stages," says Daniel Tranel, PhD, of the University of Iowa, who is not affiliated with the study. "This knowledge could help scientists pinpoint sources of extraordinary sensory processing, such as creativity and genius, as well as abnormal sensory processing, as seen in schizophrenia."
Kayser notes that the findings also could be used to reveal the role of audio-visual integration in communication or to help pin down where sounds are coming from. "Clearly, our acoustical understanding often improves if we can see the lips of the speaker — for example at a crowded cocktail party," he says. "However, currently it is not clear whether and how audio-visual interactions are specialized for the processing of communication signals. "The present study clearly shows where in the auditory system researchers have to focus.\\\
Society for Neuroscience
Kayser's team used functional magnetic resonance imaging to draw a diagram of 11 small, tightly packed fields in the monkeys' auditory cortex. Each field has a separate map that covers the full range of frequencies. Scans recorded activity in the monkeys' brains while they watched a video, with and without sound, and listened separately to the accompanying sound. The researchers found that fields in the hindmost part of the auditory cortex showed activity when the monkeys watched the video without sound, and activity was enhanced when the video was presented simultaneously with the sound.
"This finding suggests that sensory integration, which is so fundamental to complex mental activity, takes place at very early processing stages," says Daniel Tranel, PhD, of the University of Iowa, who is not affiliated with the study. "This knowledge could help scientists pinpoint sources of extraordinary sensory processing, such as creativity and genius, as well as abnormal sensory processing, as seen in schizophrenia."
Kayser notes that the findings also could be used to reveal the role of audio-visual integration in communication or to help pin down where sounds are coming from. "Clearly, our acoustical understanding often improves if we can see the lips of the speaker — for example at a crowded cocktail party," he says. "However, currently it is not clear whether and how audio-visual interactions are specialized for the processing of communication signals. "The present study clearly shows where in the auditory system researchers have to focus.\\\
Society for Neuroscience
Neuroscience Current Events and Neuroscience News RSSTheory about long and short-term memory questioned by UCL scientists
The long-held theory that our brains use different mechanisms for forming long-term and short-term memories has been challenged by new research from UCL, published today in PNAS.
Autism Consortium symposium draws record number of researchers, advocates, parents for autism update
The Autism Consortium, an innovative collaboration of researchers, clinicians, funders and families dedicated to catalyzing research and enhancing clinical care for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), held its fourth annual symposium on October 28th, 2009, at Harvard Medical School in Boston.
Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could help post-traumatic stress disorder patients
Use of cannabinoids (marijuana) could assist in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder patients. This is exposed in a new study carried out at the Learning and Memory Lab in the University of Haifa's Department of Psychology.
Estrogen therapy likely must be given soon after menopause to provide stroke protection
For estrogen replacement to provide stroke protection, it likely must be given soon after levels drop because of menopause or surgical removal of the ovaries, scientists report in the Journal of Neuroscience.
Clinical tests begin on medication to correct Fragile X defect
NIH-supported scientists at Seaside Therapeutics in Cambridge, Mass., are beginning a clinical trial of a potential medication designed to correct a central neurochemical defect underlying Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of intellectual disability.
UI study reveals second pathway to feeling your heartbeat
A new study suggests that the inner sense of our cardiovascular state, our "interoceptive awareness" of the heart pounding, relies on two independent pathways, contrary to what had been asserted by prominent researchers.
Precuneus region of human and monkey brain is divided into 4 distinct regions
A study published this week in PNAS provides a comprehensive comparative functional anatomy study in human and monkey brains which reveals highly similar brain networks preserved across evolution.
Caltech researchers show efficacy of gene therapy in mouse models of Huntington's disease
Researchers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) have shown that a highly specific intrabody (an antibody fragment that works against a target inside a cell) is capable of stalling the development of Huntington's disease in a variety of mouse models.
This is your brain on fatty acids
Saturated fats have a deservedly bad reputation, but Johns Hopkins scientists have discovered that a sticky lipid occurring naturally at high levels in the brain may help us memorize grandma's recipe for cinnamon buns, as well as recall how, decades ago, she served them up steaming from the oven.
Sight gone, but not necessarily lost?
Like all tissues in the body, the eye needs a healthy blood supply to function properly. Poorly developed blood vessels can lead to visual impairment or even blindness.
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