Speech comprehension and the brain

Question 1

Where does speech perception live in the brain?

Answer 1

Superior temporal lobe, basic auditory processing in primary auditory cortex.
Hierarchical – areas further from auditory cortex are involved in higher aspects of comprehension.

Question 2

What have semantic dementia patents told us about where semantic representations live in the brain?

Answer 2

That they had consistently damaged L anterior TL – suggests that ATL is key to semantics.

Question 3

What have4 stroke patients told us about semantic representations?

Answer 3

Large group study showed that posterior TL is important for representation of meaning.

Question 4

What does Broca’s area do, exactly?

Answer 4

Generally syntactic processing: the more complex the syntax, the more brain activation in BA. There was also some semantics-related activation when ambiguous sentences were presented – this was in the posterior part of BA.

Question 5

So what can we conclude about where semantics lives in the brain?

Answer 5

In the temporal lobe (particularly the posterior region) and in Broca’s area.