Cochlea to categories: The spatiotemporal dynamics of semantic auditory representations.

ABSTRACT: How does the auditory system categorize natural sounds? Here we apply multimodal neuroimaging to illustrate the progression from acoustic to semantically dominated representations. Combining magnetoencephalographic (MEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans of observers listening to naturalistic sounds, we found superior temporal responses beginning ∼55 ms post-stimulus onset, spreading to extratemporal cortices by ∼100 ms. Early regions were distinguished less by onset/peak latency than by functional properties and overall temporal response profiles. Early acoustically-dominated representations trended systematically toward category dominance over time (after ∼200 ms) and space (beyond primary cortex). Semantic category representation was spatially specific: Vocalization

SUBMITTER: Lowe MX 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10589059 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct-Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature