Perrachione Tyler K, Ghosh Satrajit S, Ostrovskaya Irina, Gabrieli John D E, Kovelman Ioulia
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CambridgeBoston University, MA.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, CambridgeHarvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
J Speech Lang Hear Res. 2017 Jul 12;60(7):1959-1979. doi: 10.1044/2017_JSLHR-L-15-0446.
The primary purpose of this study was to identify the brain bases of phonological working memory (the short-term maintenance of speech sounds) using behavioral tasks analogous to clinically sensitive assessments of nonword repetition. The secondary purpose of the study was to identify how individual differences in brain activation were related to participants' nonword repetition abilities.
We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to measure neurophysiological response during a nonword discrimination task derived from standard clinical assessments of phonological working memory. Healthy adult control participants (N = 16) discriminated pairs of real words or nonwords under varying phonological working memory load, which we manipulated by parametrically varying the number of syllables in target (non)words. Participants' cognitive and phonological abilities were also measured using standardized assessments.
Neurophysiological responses in bilateral superior temporal gyrus, inferior frontal gyrus, and supplementary motor area increased with greater phonological working memory load. Activation in left superior temporal gyrus during nonword discrimination correlated with participants' performance on standard clinical nonword repetition tests.
These results suggest that phonological working memory is related to the function of cortical structures that canonically underlie speech perception and production.
本研究的主要目的是使用类似于非词重复临床敏感性评估的行为任务，来确定语音工作记忆（语音的短期维持）的脑基础。该研究的次要目的是确定大脑激活的个体差异与参与者的非词重复能力之间的关系。
我们使用功能磁共振成像来测量在源自语音工作记忆标准临床评估的非词辨别任务期间的神经生理反应。健康成年对照参与者（N = 16）在不同的语音工作记忆负荷下辨别真实单词或非词对，我们通过参数化改变目标（非）词中的音节数量来操纵这种负荷。还使用标准化评估来测量参与者的认知和语音能力。
双侧颞上回、额下回和辅助运动区的神经生理反应随着语音工作记忆负荷的增加而增强。在非词辨别期间，左颞上回的激活与参与者在标准临床非词重复测试中的表现相关。
这些结果表明，语音工作记忆与通常作为语音感知和产生基础的皮质结构功能有关。
