How frontal and temporal brain areas help you hear and tell speech sounds apart
The Role of Frontal and Temporal Brain Areas in the Perception of Phonetic Category Structure
This project looks at how the left and right sides of the brain help people — including those with brain injuries — hear and learn speech sounds.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Connecticut Storrs NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Storrs-Mansfield, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11137045 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will scan your brain with fMRI while you listen to speech sounds to map how different brain areas respond. They will use neural decoding methods to measure how precisely left and right temporal lobes encode phonetic categories. Some participants may receive brief, safe magnetic pulses (TMS) to temporarily disrupt specific brain areas and see how that changes speech perception. The team will also study people who already have left or right temporal lobe damage to compare how real lesions affect hearing and learning speech sounds.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal candidates include adults who can undergo MRI and TMS, including healthy volunteers and people with documented left or right temporal lobe damage.
Not a fit: People who cannot have MRI or TMS (for example those with certain metal implants, pacemakers, or severe medical instability) or whose communication issues are unrelated to temporal-lobe speech processing may not benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Results could clarify why some people lose speech comprehension after brain injury and guide future therapies or brain-stimulation approaches to improve language processing.
How similar studies have performed: Previous studies have shown left-hemisphere links to categorical speech perception, but combining fMRI decoding, TMS, and lesion comparisons in this way is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
Storrs-Mansfield, United States
- University of Connecticut Storrs — Storrs-Mansfield, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Myers, Emily B — University of Connecticut Storrs
- Study coordinator: Myers, Emily B
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.