Lefties get it "right" when hearing tool sounds. J Cogn Neurosci 2006 Aug;18(8):1314-30
Date
07/25/2006Pubmed ID
16859417DOI
10.1162/jocn.2006.18.8.1314Scopus ID
2-s2.0-33646598173 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 67 CitationsAbstract
Our ability to manipulate and understand the use of a wide range of tools is a feature that sets humans apart from other animals. In right-handers, we previously reported that hearing hand-manipulated tool sounds preferentially activates a left hemisphere network of motor-related brain regions hypothesized to be related to handedness. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we compared cortical activation in strongly right-handed versus left-handed listeners categorizing tool sounds relative to animal vocalizations. Here we show that tool sounds preferentially evoke activity predominantly in the hemisphere "opposite" the dominant hand, in specific high-level motor-related and multisensory cortical regions, as determined by a separate task involving pantomiming tool-use gestures. This organization presumably reflects the idea that we typically learn the "meaning" of tool sounds in the context of using them with our dominant hand, such that the networks underlying motor imagery or action schemas may be recruited to facilitate recognition.
Author List
Lewis JW, Phinney RE, Brefczynski-Lewis JA, DeYoe EAAuthor
Edgar A. DeYoe PhD Adjunct Professor in the Radiology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Acoustic StimulationAdult
Brain Mapping
Cerebral Cortex
Female
Functional Laterality
Hearing
Humans
Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
Linear Models
Magnetic Resonance Imaging
Male
Middle Aged
Psychomotor Performance
Sound
Sound Localization
