Auditory areas are activated during a visuo-motor task
Single Paper Presentation

Roberto Martuzzi
Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Micah Murray
Division of Neuropsychology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Philippe Maeder
Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Eleonora Fornari
Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Jean-Philippe Thiran
Signal Processing Institute, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland

Stephanie Clarke
Division of Neuropsychology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

Christoph Michel
Department of Neuroscience, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland

Reto Meuli
Department of Radiology, University Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland

     Abstract ID Number: 79
     Full text: Not available
     Last modified: March 16, 2006
     Presentation date: 06/19/2006 10:00 AM in Hamilton Building, Foyer
     (View Schedule)

Abstract
Evidence is accumulating that brain regions traditionally considered as unisensory contribute to multisensory interactions. In this study, we investigated the BOLD response within auditory areas during a visuo-motor task. Ten subjects performed a simple reaction-time task in response to a lateralized visual stimulus at 1.5T. Stimuli were randomly presented at the right or at the left visual field (lateralization 9.5°), and subjects were asked to respond upon simple detection with the right hand in the first session and with the left one during the second session. Stimuli were presented for 125ms with and inter-trial interval varying from 14.125 to 17.875s in steps of 125ms. In addition to activations within visual- and motor-related areas, we identified frank bilateral activations within auditory areas, with a clear predominance (both in size and in intensity) on the side contralateral to the responding hand. This dominance suggests that the signal intensity is primarily modulated by the responding hand and/or by the somatosensory stimulation generated during the motor response. The visual field of stimulation did not directly impact response size or intensity. The collective findings raise the possibility that activations in auditory cortices during visuo-motor tasks are more related to auditory-somatosensory interactions than to auditory-visual interactions.