Gesa
Hartwigsen1, Stephan Ulmer2, Annette Baumgaertner1,
Hartwig Roman Siebner1,3
1Department of Neurology,
Christian-Albrechts-University Kiel, Kiel, Germany; 2Institute of
Neuroradiology, University Hospital of Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Germany; 3Danish
Research Centre for Magnetic Resonance, Hvidovre University Hospital,
Copenhagen, Denmark
We
used functional magnetic resonance imaging to delineate areas involved in
modality-independent pseudoword repetition in healthy right-handed subjects.
A conjunction analysis revealed that the rostral supplementary motor area
(rSMA) was activated during pseudoword repetition. Activity in the right rSMA
showed increased task-related coupling with activity in the ipsilateral
primary motor cortex (M1) and contralateral ventral premotor cortex (PMv) as
revealed by a psychophysiological interaction. We show that rSMA is involved
in modality-independent pseudoword repetition. The increased task-related
influence of rSMA on M1 and PMv during pseudoword repetition suggests a
supervisory role of the rSMA on executive motor areas in language production.