Speaker: Yi Du, Ph.D.
                  Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care,
                  University of Toronto, Canada
Time:       13:30pm – 15:00pm
Date:       April 24 (Thu), 2014
Venue:     Meeting Room Level 5, South Building

Abstract:

The classical dual-pathway model of auditory cortical processing suggests that sound identity and sound location are separately processed in ventral and dorsal auditory streams. In addition to the "What"/ "Where" dichotomy, recent theories of speech processing assigns the ventral and dorsal streams for speech comprehension (sound to meaning) and sensorimotor integration (sound to action), respectively. We argue that those models differed mainly in emphasis, that the dorsal auditory stream encompasses both spatial and sensorimotor functions. In this talk, I will present my recent studies using MEG and fMRI measurements to investigate the cognitive and neural basis of human speech perception, with special emphasis on the interaction between auditory ventral and dorsal streams. Specifically, the following three questions will be addressed: 1) how human auditory cortex organizes the spectral and spatial information of co-occurring speech objects during speech segregation and identification; 2) how rapid perceptual learning tunes auditory streams for processing speech identity and location during perception; 3) how the sensorimotor integration function in the dorsal stream, that supports speech production, contributes to speech perception under adverse listening circumstance. 

Attachment:

　  "What", "Where" and Sensorimotor Integration in Speech Perception(.pdf)