Attention modulates sound processing in human auditory cortex but not the inferior colliculus

• DOI: 10.1097/wnr.0b013e32826fb3bb
• Publication Date: 2007-08-07T07:10:18Z
• Authors: Teemu Rinne; G. Christopher St...; Xiaojian Kang; E. William Yund; Timothy J. Herron; David L. Woods
• Keywords: Adult; Auditory Cortex; Male; Brain Mapping; Auditory Pathways; Adolescent; Middle Aged; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Inferior Colliculi; Oxygen; 03 medical and health sciences; Sound; 0302 clinical medicine; Acoustic Stimulation; Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; Reaction Time; Visual Perception; Humans; Attention; Female; Photic Stimulation

Auditory attention powerfully influences perception and modulates sound processing in auditory cortex, but the extent of attentional modulation in the subcortical auditory pathway remains poorly understood. We examined the effects of intermodal attention using functional magnetic resonance imaging of the inferior colliculus and auditory cortex in a demanding intermodal selective attention task using a silent imaging paradigm designed to optimize inferior colliculus activations. Both the inferior colliculus and auditory cortex showed strong activations to sound, but attentional modulations were restricted to auditory cortex.