Cross-modal sensory processing in the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortices

Paul J. Laurienti, Mark T. Wallace, Joseph A Maldjian, Christina M. Susi, Barry E. Stein, Jonathan H. Burdette

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

92 Scopus citations

Abstract

One of the principal functions of the nervous system is to synthesize information from multiple sensory channels into a coherent behavioral and perceptual gestalt. A critical feature of this multisensory synthesis is the sorting and coupling of information derived from the same event. One of the singular features of stimuli conveying such information is their contextual or semantic congruence. Illustrating this fact, subjects are typically faster and more accurate when performing tasks that include congruent compared to incongruent cross-modal stimuli. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, we demonstrate that activity in select brain areas is sensitive to the contextual congruence among cross-modal cues and to task difficulty. The anterior cingulate gyrus and adjacent medial prefrontal cortices showed significantly greater activity when visual and auditory stimuli were contextually congruent (i.e., matching) than when they were nonmatching. Although activity in these regions was also dependent on task difficulty, showing decreased activity with decreasing task difficulty, the activity changes associated with stimulus congruence predominated.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)213-223
Number of pages11
JournalHuman Brain Mapping
Volume19
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 1 2003

Keywords

  • Audition
  • Cerebral cortex
  • FMRI
  • Multisensory
  • Vision

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Anatomy
  • Radiological and Ultrasound Technology
  • Radiology Nuclear Medicine and imaging
  • Neurology
  • Clinical Neurology

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Cross-modal sensory processing in the anterior cingulate and medial prefrontal cortices'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this