Humans are able to categorize things they encounter in the world (e.g., a cat) by integrating multisensory information from the auditory and visual modalities with ease and speed. However, how the brain learns multisensory categories remains elusive. The present study used functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate, for the first time, the neural mechanisms underpinning multisensory information-integration (II) category learning. A sensory-modality-general network, including the left insula, right inferior frontal gyrus (IFG), supplementary motor area, left precentral gyrus, bilateral parietal cortex, and right caudate and globus pallidus, was recruited for II categorization, regardless of whether the information came from a single modality or from multiple modalities. Putamen activity was higher in correct categorization than incorrect categorization. Critically, the left IFG and left body and tail of the caudate were activated in multisensory II categorization but not in unisensory II categorization, which suggests this network plays a specific role in integrating multisensory information during category learning. The present results extend our understanding of the role of the left IFG in multisensory processing from the linguistic domain to a broader role in audiovisual learning.

中文翻译：

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左额下回在分类学习中整合多感官信息。

通过轻松快速地整合来自听觉和视觉模式的多感官信息，人类能够对他们在世界上遇到的事物（例如，一只猫）进行分类。然而，大脑如何学习多感官类别仍然难以捉摸。本研究首次使用功能磁共振成像来研究支持多感官信息整合 (II) 类别学习的神经机制。包括左侧脑岛、右侧额下回 (IFG)、辅助运动区、左侧中央前回、双侧顶叶皮层、右侧尾状核和苍白球在内的一般感觉网络被纳入 II 类分类，无论信息来自单一模式或多种模式。正确分类的壳核活性高于错误分类。关键的是，左 IFG 和尾状核的左身体和尾巴在多感觉 II 分类中被激活，但在单感觉 II 分类中没有被激活，这表明该网络在类别学习过程中整合多感觉信息中起着特定的作用。目前的结果将我们对左 IFG 在多感官处理中的作用的理解从语言领域扩展到视听学习中更广泛的作用。