One of the fundamental properties of the mammalian brain is that sensory regions of cortex are formed of multiple, functionally specialized cortical field maps (CFMs). Each CFM comprises two orthogonal topographical representations, reflecting two essential aspects of sensory space. In auditory cortex, auditory field maps (AFMs) are defined by the combination of tonotopic gradients, representing the spectral aspects of sound (i.e., tones), with orthogonal periodotopic gradients, representing the temporal aspects of sound (i.e., period or temporal envelope). Converging evidence from cytoarchitectural and neuroimaging measurements underlies the definition of 11 AFMs across core and belt regions of human auditory cortex, with likely homology to those of macaque. On a macrostructural level, AFMs are grouped into cloverleaf clusters, an organizational structure also seen in visual cortex. Future research can now use these AFMs to investigate specific stages of auditory processing, key for understanding behaviors such as speech perception and multimodal sensory integration.

中文翻译：

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听觉皮层的地图。

哺乳动物大脑的基本特性之一是皮质的感觉区域是由多个功能专用的皮质视野图（CFM）形成的。每个CFM包含两个正交的地形图表示，反映了感觉空间的两个基本方面。在听觉皮层中，听觉场图（AFM）是由代表声音（即音调）的声调梯度和代表声音的时间（即周期或时间包络）的正交周期性梯度的组合定义的。来自细胞结构和神经影像学测量的越来越多的证据奠定了人类听觉皮层核心和皮带区域11种AFM的定义的基础，它们可能与猕猴具有同源性。在宏观结构层面上，AFM分为三叶草簇，在视觉皮层中也可以看到的组织结构。现在，将来的研究可以使用这些AFM来调查听觉处理的特定阶段，这是理解言语感知和多模式感觉整合等行为的关键。