Connectivity in Narrative Comprehension

Lead: Einar Mencl
Status: analyzing data

We have developed an fMRI design to assess activations and task-driven connectivity in the same experiment: subjects hear a spoken narrative, or read word-by-word presentations of a narrative, or passively rest, in rotating 60-second blocks. This block length optimizes between the shorter block lengths desirable for activation-subtraction analysis, and the longer steady-state periods required for time-course connectivity analyses. Data from initial pilot subject shows the expected activations during listening and reading; strong connectivity between IFG and STG/MTG during listening; and stronger correlations between STG and the posterior visual stream during reading.