University of Connecticut
Left and right temporal brain areas are thought to contribute to speech perception, but the division of labor between left and right hemisphere regions is still unclear. Here we use transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) to stimulate left and right temporal foci and a vertex control site to temporarily disrupt activation at the stimulation site, using a "virtual lesion" approach to test the effect of stimulation site on a series of speech perception tasks. This portion of the project is basic research. However, since TMS is viewed as an intervention, studies involving TMS in this grant are considered clinical trials.
This study uses TMS to temporarily disrupt neural activity in the left and right temporal cortex and examine the effect of this disruption on speech perception tasks. Vertex stimulation is included as a control condition against which left and right superior temporal stimulation effects are compared. Adult participants first undergo structural MRI and a speech localizer using functional MRI to identify speech-sensitive voxels in the left and right temporal cortex. These regions are set by-participant as the foci for stimulation. Stimulation site is blocked, and typically distributed across ses…
Inclusion Criteria: * Monolingual native speaker of English * No history of neurological impairments or disease * Free of speech and language disorders (per self-report, and confirmed by short language battery described by Fidler, Vance, \& Plante, 2011) * Pure-tone thresholds of 30 decibels or better in both ears (no worse than mild hearing loss), with no more than 15 dB between-ear difference. * Right-handed, as confirmed by Oldfield Handedness Inventory Exclusion Criteria: * Any condition where TMS would be contraindicated according to the most recent guidelines, including, but not limit…
TMS will be delivered in 10 Hz pulses for 2.5 seconds, with behavioral measures of speech perception and object categorization immediately following each pulse. TMS at this schedule is thought to temporarily disrupt activity at the stimulation site.
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