Distinct Brain Regions Associated with Syllable and Phoneme

Overview

Journal Hum Brain Mapp

Publisher Wiley

Specialty Neurology

Date 2003 Feb 25

PMID 12599278

Citations 38

Authors

Wai Ting Siok

Zhen Jin

Paul Fletcher

Li Hai Tan

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The syllable and the phoneme are two important units in the phonological structure of speech sounds. In the brain mapping literature, it remains unsolved as to whether there are separate brain regions mediating the processing of syllables and phonemes. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we investigated the neural substrate of these phonological units with Chinese subjects. Results revealed that the left middle frontal cortex contributes to syllabic processing, whereas the left inferior prefrontal gyri contributes to phonemic processing. This pattern of findings offers compelling evidence for distinct cortical areas relevant to the representation of syllables and phonemes.

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