Price C, Wise R, Ramsay S, Friston K, Howard D, Patterson K, Frackowiak R
MRC Cyclotron Unit, Hammersmith Hospital, London, UK.
Neurosci Lett. 1992 Nov 9;146(2):179-82. doi: 10.1016/0304-3940(92)90072-f.
The relationship between activity within the human auditory cortices and the presentation rate of heard words was investigated by measuring changes in regional cerebral blood flow with positron emission tomography. We demonstrate that in the primary auditory cortices and middle regions of the superior temporal gyri there is a linear relationship between the rate of presentation of heard words and blood flow response. In contrast, the blood flow response in an area of the left posterior superior temporal gyrus (Wernicke's area) is primarily dependent on the occurrence of words irrespective of their rate of presentation. The primary auditory cortices are associated with the early processing of complex acoustic signals whereas Wernicke's area is associated with the comprehension of heard words. This study demonstrates for the first time that time dependent sensory signals (heard words) detected in the primary auditory cortices are transformed into a time invariant output which is channelled to a functionally specialised region--Wernicke's area. Wernicke's area is therefore distinguished from other areas of the auditory cortex by direct observation of signal transformation rather than by association with a specific behavioural task.
通过正电子发射断层扫描测量局部脑血流量的变化，研究了人类听觉皮层内的活动与所听单词呈现速率之间的关系。我们证明，在初级听觉皮层和颞上回的中部区域，所听单词的呈现速率与血流反应之间存在线性关系。相比之下，左侧颞上回后部区域（韦尼克区）的血流反应主要取决于单词的出现，而与它们的呈现速率无关。初级听觉皮层与复杂声音信号的早期处理有关，而韦尼克区与所听单词的理解有关。这项研究首次表明，在初级听觉皮层中检测到的随时间变化的感觉信号（所听单词）被转化为一个不随时间变化的输出，并被输送到一个功能特化的区域——韦尼克区。因此，通过直接观察信号转换而不是通过与特定行为任务的关联，韦尼克区与听觉皮层的其他区域区分开来。
