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Left anterior temporal cortex actively engages in speech perception: A direct cortical stimulation study
Matsumoto R, Imamura H, Inouchi M, Nakagawa T, Yokoyama Y, Matsuhashi M, Mikuni N, Miyamoto S et al.. Neuropsychologia, 2011-01-18
Topic: Brain proteins, microglia and lab models
Recent neuroimaging studies proposed the importance of the anterior auditory pathway for speech comprehension. Its clinical significance is implicated by semantic dementia or pure word deafness. Neurodegenerative or cerebrovascular nature, however, precluded precise localization of the cortex responsible for speech perception. Electrical cortical stimulation could delineate such localization by producing transient, functional impairment. We investigated engagement of the left anterior temporal cortex in speech perception by means of direct electrical cortical stimulation. Subjects were two partial epilepsy patients, who underwent direct cortical stimulation as a part of invasive presurgical evaluations. Stimulus sites were coregistered to presurgical 3D-MRI, and then to MNI standard space for anatomical localization. Separate from the posterior temporal language area, electrical cortical stimulation revealed a well-restricted language area in the anterior part of the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus (aSTS/STG) in both patients. Auditory sentence comprehension was impaired upon electrical stimulation of aSTS/STG. In one patient, additional investigation revealed that the functional impairment was restricted to auditory sentence comprehension with preserved visual sentence comprehension and perception of music and environmental sounds. Both patients reported that they could hear the voice but not understand the sentence well (e.g., heard as a series of meaningless utterance). The standard coordinates of this restricted area at left aSTS/STG well corresponded with the coordinates of speech perception reported in neuroimaging activation studies in healthy subjects. The present combined anatomo-functional case study, for the first time, demonstrated that aSTS/STG in the language dominant hemisphere actively engages in speech perception.
Key findings
- Separate from the posterior temporal language area, electrical cortical stimulation revealed a well-restricted language area in the anterior part of the superior temporal sulcus and gyrus (aSTS/STG) in both patients.
- In one patient, additional investigation revealed that the functional impairment was restricted to auditory sentence comprehension with preserved visual sentence comprehension and perception of music and environmental sounds.
- The present combined anatomo-functional case study, for the first time, demonstrated that aSTS/STG in the language dominant hemisphere actively engages in speech perception.
Why it matters
Direct electrical cortical stimulation in two epilepsy patients identified a language area in the left anterior temporal cortex involved in auditory sentence comprehension. This is a small anatomical study about speech perception, not about treating, curing or preventing Alzheimer's disease.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 40/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuropsychologia) |
| Journal's citation record | 3 / 4 | Neuropsychologia: journal h-index 321 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2011 — within 20 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 3 / 3 | Studied in people (pubmed indexes it as a clinical or observational study) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 4 / 7 | Cited 52 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 2 / 5 | 3.1 citations a year over 17 year(s) since 2011 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.7× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 10 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Akio Ikeda: h-index 66 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | Kyoto University: institution h-index 1,156 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 0 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 1 institution(s) in 1 country — scores zero (affiliation lists can be incomplete) |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 21251921) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 40 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.023
- PubMed: 21251921
- Original source →
- Free full text: Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Matsumoto, R., Imamura, H., Inouchi, M., Nakagawa, T., Yokoyama, Y., Matsuhashi, M., et al. (2011). Left anterior temporal cortex actively engages in speech perception: A direct cortical stimulation study. Neuropsychologia. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.023
Vancouver
Matsumoto R, Imamura H, Inouchi M, Nakagawa T, Yokoyama Y, Matsuhashi M, et al. Left anterior temporal cortex actively engages in speech perception: A direct cortical stimulation study. Neuropsychologia. 2011. doi:10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.023. PMID: 21251921.
BibTeX
@article{matsumoto2011-21251921,
author = {Matsumoto, R. and Imamura, H. and Inouchi, M. and Nakagawa, T. and Yokoyama, Y. and Matsuhashi, M. and Mikuni, N. and Miyamoto, S. and others},
title = {{Left anterior temporal cortex actively engages in speech perception: A direct cortical stimulation study}},
journal = {Neuropsychologia},
year = {2011},
doi = {10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.023},
pmid = {21251921},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2011.01.023}
}
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