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Abstract:
Recent fMRI findings indicate that the visual analysis of temporal, spatial, and object-specific
patterns engages different regions within the premotor cortex (PMC) (Schubotz and von Cramon,
2001a). This was taken to reflect an automatic sensorimotor mapping according to a rough
somatotopy. The present fMRI study tested that hypothesis, using auditory stimuli. Four tasks
were presented in a random trial design. Within each trial, 12 artificial noises were presented
sequentially. Participants were required to monitor temporal (when), spatial (where), or
qualitative (what) patterns for deviants in a forced-choice task. A baseline controlled for
perceptual and response effects. Results replicated premotor activations. Thus, inferior PMC
responded to when patterns, dorsal PMC to where patterns, and middle PMC to what patterns. In
contrast to former findings in the visual paradigm, auditory what patterns elicited additional
activations in inferior PMC, pointing to a dual representation including both manual and
articulatory motor effectors.
