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| Sound and information are processed simultaneously in the brain |
After years of research, neuroscientists have discovered a new way of processing speech sounds in the human brain
.
Research results published on August 18 in Cell Press, a journal Cell ("Cell"), show that hearing and language processing are parallel
Cell
After the sound reaches the ear, the cochlea converts it into an electrical signal, which is then sent to the auditory cortex located in the temporal lobe
.
For decades, scientists have believed that language processing in the auditory cortex follows a path similar to a factory assembly line
But for a long time, this theory has not been supported by direct evidence, because it requires detailed neurophysiological records of the entire auditory cortex with extremely high spatio-temporal resolution
.
This is a challenge because the primary auditory cortex is located deep in the cleft between the frontal and temporal lobes of the brain
Edward Chang, a neuroscientist and neurosurgeon at the University of California, San Francisco, said: "So, we conducted this research, hoping to find evidence that low-level representations such as sounds are transformed into high-level representations such as vocabulary
.
"
In 7 years, Chang's team studied 9 participants who had to undergo brain surgery because of diseases such as tumors or epilepsy
.
During the operation, small electrode arrays are placed throughout their auditory cortex to collect nerve signals related to speech and epilepsy
Chang said: "This research is the first time that we directly and simultaneously cover all relevant areas of the brain to study the conversion of sounds to words
.
" Previous similar studies could only collect signals at a limited number of points
When playing phrases and sentences for participants, the researchers hope to see the flow of information from the primary auditory cortex to the superior temporal gyrus as proposed by traditional models
.
If this is the case, these two areas should be activated one after the other
But surprisingly, the research team found that when the sentence was played, some areas of the superior temporal gyrus responded as fast as the primary auditory cortex, indicating that the two areas began to process sound information at the same time
.
In addition, the researchers used small currents to stimulate the participants' primary auditory cortex
.
If language processing follows a series of paths, as the traditional model points out, the stimulus may distort the patient’s perception of language
"In fact, one participant said that it sounds like the syllables in the word have been swapped
.
" Chang said
.
The research shows that traditional speech processing models are too simplified and may even be wrong
.
The researchers speculate that the superior temporal gyrus may function independently of the primary auditory cortex, rather than as the next step in the processing of the primary auditory cortex
.
The parallelism of language processing may provide doctors with new ideas for the treatment of dyslexia and other diseases
.
Children with these diseases have difficulty recognizing speech
.
"Although this is an important step forward, we do not yet understand this parallel auditory system
.
These findings indicate that the transmission of sound information may be very different from what we imagined
.
This undoubtedly brings more problems
.
" Chang said
.
(Source: Tang Yichen, China Science News)
Related paper information: https://doi.
org/10.
1016/j.
cell.
2021.
07.
019
org/10.
1016/j.
cell.
2021.
07.
019
