Related resources
Full-text held externally
Search for item elsewhere
University researcher(s)
Lateralization of ventral and dorsal auditory-language pathways in the human brain
Parker GJM, S. Luzzi, D.C. Alexander, C.A.M. Wheeler-Kingshott, O. Ciccarelli, Lambon Ralph MA
Neuroimage. 2005;24.
Access to files
Abstract
Recent electrophysiological investigations of the auditory system inprimates along with functional neuroimaging studies of auditoryperception in humans have suggested there are two pathways arisingfrom the primary auditory cortex. In the primate brain, a dventralTpathway is thought to project anteriorly from the primary auditorycortex to prefrontal areas along the superior temporal gyrus while aseparate ddorsalT route connects these areas posteriorly via the inferiorparietal lobe. We use diffusion MRI tractography, a noninvasivetechnique based on diffusion-weighted MRI, to investigate thepossibility of a similar pattern of connectivity in the human brain forthe first time. The dorsal pathway from Wernicke’s area to Broca’sarea is shown to include the arcuate fasciculus and connectivity toBrodmann area 40, lateral superior temporal gyrus (LSTG), andlateral middle temporal gyrus. A ventral route between Wernicke’sarea and Broca’s area is demonstrated that connects via the externalcapsule/uncinate fasciculus and the medial superior temporal gyrus.Ventral connections are also observed in the lateral superior andmiddle temporal gyri. The connections are stronger in the dominanthemisphere, in agreement with previous studies of functional lateralizationof auditory-language processing.D 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Keywords: Diffusion-weighted imaging; Tractography; Language;Lateralization