Syntax processing by auditory cortical neurons in the FM–FM area of the mustached bat Pteronotus parnellii
AUTOR(ES)
Esser, Karl-Heinz
FONTE
The National Academy of Sciences of the USA
RESUMO
Syntax denotes a rule system that allows one to predict the sequencing of communication signals. Despite its significance for both human speech processing and animal acoustic communication, the representation of syntactic structure in the mammalian brain has not been studied electrophysiologically at the single-unit level. In the search for a neuronal correlate for syntax, we used playback of natural and temporally destructured complex species-specific communication calls—so-called composites—while recording extracellularly from neurons in a physiologically well defined area (the FM–FM area) of the mustached bat’s auditory cortex. Even though this area is known to be involved in the processing of target distance information for echolocation, we found that units in the FM–FM area were highly responsive to composites. The finding that neuronal responses were strongly affected by manipulation in the time domain of the natural composite structure lends support to the hypothesis that syntax processing in mammals occurs at least at the level of the nonprimary auditory cortex.
ACESSO AO ARTIGO
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=28425Documentos Relacionados
- Combination sensitivity and processing of communication calls in the inferior colliculus of the Moustached Bat Pteronotus parnellii
- Reorganization of the auditory cortex specialized for echo-delay processing in the mustached bat
- Basilar membrane resonance in the cochlea of the mustached bat.
- Cortical auditory signal processing in poor readers
- Processing Temporal Modulations in Binaural and Monaural Auditory Stimuli by Neurons in the Inferior Colliculus and Auditory Cortex