Processing of location and pattern changes of natural sounds in the human auditory cortex

Parallel cortical pathways have been proposed for the processing of auditory pattern and spatial information, respectively. We tested this segregation with human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and separate electroencephalographic (EEG) recordings in the same subjects who listened passively to four sequences of repetitive spatial animal vocalizations in an event-related paradigm. Transitions between sequences constituted either a change of auditory pattern, location, or both pattern+location. This procedure allowed us to investigate the cortical correlates of natural auditory "what" and "where" changes independent of differences in the individual stimuli. For pattern changes, we observed significantly increased fMRI responses along the bilateral anterior superior temporal gyrus and superior temporal sulcus, the planum polare, lateral Heschl's gyrus and anterior planum temporale. For location changes, significant increases of fMRI responses were observed in bilateral posterior superior temporal gyrus and planum temporale. An overlap of these two types of changes occurred in the lateral anterior planum temporale and posterior superior temporal gyrus. The analysis of source event-related potentials (ERPs) revealed faster processing of location than pattern changes. Thus, our data suggest that passive processing of auditory spatial and pattern changes is dissociated both temporally and anatomically in the human brain. The predominant role of more anterior aspects of the superior temporal lobe in sound identity processing supports the role of this area as part of the auditory pattern processing stream, while spatial processing of auditory stimuli appears to be mediated by the more posterior parts of the superior temporal lobe.