| The ability to integrate sensory and motor information is fundamental to speech, providing the connection between incoming sensory information and motor production circuits. Although a critical feature of the speech/language system, the anatomical and functional organization of sensory-motor integration and the mechanisms supporting it, remain poorly understood. The studies presented will use fMRI to examine sensory-motor integration as it supports vocal production relating to speech and language processes. First, we will present evidence for the involvement of a discrete functional-anatomic region in sensory-motor integration, area Spt. Second, we examine the specificity of response in this region to motor output modality. Previous work has suggested this area is not speech specific and preferentially engages for integration involving output through the vocal tract (Pa & Hickok, 2008). Here we use auditory spatial stimuli to drive sensory-motor integration using three motor output effectors: hand, eye and tongue. Finally we investigate whether area Spt responds broadly for vocal tract gestures or is preferentially involved in output for a specific effector. To assess this, an auditory spatial tracking task is used to differentially drive output with the tongue and the larynx. Together data suggest a complex functional-anatomic organization supports sensory-motor integration for speech and language processes. |
