Search

Texture, a fundamental object attribute, is perceived through multisensory information including touch and auditory cues. Coherent perceptions may rely on shared texture representations across different senses in the brain. To test this hypothesis, we delivered haptic textures coupled with a sound synthesizer to generate real-time textural sounds. Participants completed roughness estimation tasks with haptic, auditory, or bimodal cues in an MRI scanner. Somatosensory, auditory, and visual cortices were all activated during haptic and auditory exploration, challenging the traditional view that primary sensory cortices are sense-specific. Furthermore, audio-tactile integration was found in secondary somatosensory (S2) and primary auditory cortices. Multivariate analyses revealed shared spatial activity patterns in primary motor and somatosensory cortices, for discriminating texture across both modalities. This study indicates that primary areas and S2 have a versatile representation of multisensory textures, which has significant implications for how the brain processes multisensory cues to interact more efficiently with our environment., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests., (© 2023.)

How the evolution of speech has transformed the human auditory cortex compared to other primates remains largely unknown. While primary auditory cortex is organized largely similarly in humans and macaques, 1 the picture is much less clear at higher levels of the anterior auditory pathway, 2 particularly regarding the processing of conspecific vocalizations (CVs). A "voice region" similar to the human voice-selective areas 3 , 4 has been identified in the macaque right anterior temporal lobe with functional MRI; 5 however, its anatomical localization, seemingly inconsistent with that of the human temporal voice areas (TVAs), has suggested a "repositioning of the voice area" in recent human evolution. 6 Here we report a functional homology in the cerebral processing of vocalizations by macaques and humans, using comparative fMRI and a condition-rich auditory stimulation paradigm. We find that the anterior temporal lobe of both species possesses cortical voice areas that are bilateral and not only prefer conspecific vocalizations but also implement a representational geometry categorizing them apart from all other sounds in a species-specific but homologous manner. These results reveal a more similar functional organization of higher-level auditory cortex in macaques and humans than currently known., Competing Interests: Declaration of interests The authors declare no competing interest., (Copyright © 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Non-human primate neuroimaging is a rapidly growing area of research that promises to transform and scale translational and cross-species comparative neuroscience. Unfortunately, the technological and methodological advances of the past two decades have outpaced the accrual of data, which is particularly challenging given the relatively few centers that have the necessary facilities and capabilities. The PRIMatE Data Exchange (PRIME-DE) addresses this challenge by aggregating independently acquired non-human primate magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) datasets and openly sharing them via the International Neuroimaging Data-sharing Initiative (INDI). Here, we present the rationale, design, and procedures for the PRIME-DE consortium, as well as the initial release, consisting of 25 independent data collections aggregated across 22 sites (total = 217 non-human primates). We also outline the unique pitfalls and challenges that should be considered in the analysis of non-human primate MRI datasets, including providing automated quality assessment of the contributed datasets., (Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)