Objective: The aim of present study was to determine which brain regions are involved in the conscious perception of sound motion in humans.
Methods: Six kinds of sound stimuli were studied. Two static sound stimuli with durations of 100 or 1000 ms remained at a fixed position during the stimulation period. Four moving sound stimuli with duration of 100 or 1000 ms were moving from left to right, or right to left, during the stimulation period. Evoked magnetic fields were recorded using a 151-channel whole cortex magnetoencephalographic system.
Results: The response identified in all sound stimuli was M100. Responses identified only in moving sound stimuli were M180, M280 and M680. Contour maps and dipoles overlapped on magnetic resonance imaging indicated that both the M100 and M680 responses were generated in the superior temporal cortex (left and right), while M180 and M280 were generated in the parietal cortex (right).
Conclusions: The results of this MEG study indicated that the right parietal cortex was involved in sound motion processing. We hypothesize that the right parietal cortex, in association with the left and right superior temporal cortex, forms a network to process sound motion information.