Various brain regions are implicated in speech processing, and the specific function of some of them is better understood than others. In particular, involvement of the dorsal precentral cortex (dPCC) in speech perception remains debated, and attribution of the function of this region is more or less restricted to motor processing. In this study, we investigated high‐density intracranial responses to speech fragments of a feature film, aiming to determine whether dPCC is engaged in perception of continuous speech. Our findings show that dPCC exhibited preference to speech over other tested sounds. Moreover, the identified area was involved in tracking of speech auditory properties including speech spectral envelope, its rhythmic phrasal pattern and pitch contour. DPCC also showed the ability to filter out noise from the perceived speech. Comparing these results to data from motor experiments showed that the identified region had a distinct location in dPCC, anterior to the hand motor area and superior to the mouth articulator region. The present findings uncovered with high‐density intracranial recordings help elucidate the functional specialization of PCC and demonstrate the unique role of its anterior dorsal region in continuous speech perception.

中文翻译：

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高密度颅内记录显示前背中央前皮质中有一个不同的部位，用于跟踪感知到的语音。

各种大脑区域都涉及语音处理，其中一些区域的特定功能比其他区域更容易理解。特别是，背侧前中央皮层 (dPCC) 在言语感知中的参与仍然存在争议，并且该区域功能的归因或多或少仅限于运动处理。在这项研究中，我们调查了对故事片语音片段的高密度颅内反应，旨在确定 dPCC 是否参与对连续语音的感知。我们的研究结果表明，与其他测试声音相比，dPCC 表现出对语音的偏好。此外，所识别的区域参与了语音听觉特性的跟踪，包括语音频谱包络、其节奏短语模式和音高轮廓。DPCC 还展示了从感知语音中滤除噪声的能力。将这些结果与运动实验的数据进行比较表明，所识别的区域在 dPCC 中有一个不同的位置，位于手部运动区域的前面，并高于口腔咬合架区域。高密度颅内记录揭示的本研究结果有助于阐明 PCC 的功能专业化，并证明其前背区域在连续语音感知中的独特作用。