<p><strong>Short answer</strong><br>
The primary auditory cortex is mainly involved in relatively simple processing of sound. The language areas involved in producing and understanding speech are associative auditory cortices and are considered to be areas higher up in the hierarchy. They are connected to the primary auditory cortex, but are situated at anatomically different locations in the brain. </p>

<p><strong>Background</strong><br>
The <a href="https://www.dartmouth.edu/~rswenson/NeuroSci/chapter_11.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">primary auditory cortex</a> is engaged in the <strong>low-level processing</strong> of sound. For example, it contains a tonotopic map that is used to separately process the various frequencies in the incoming sound <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">(Purves <em>et al</em>., 2001)</a> (Fig. 1).</p>

<p>The language area involved in <strong>production of speech</strong> of the brain is called <a href="http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Broca's area</a> (Fig. 1) and is anatomically distinct from the primary auditory cortex.</p>

<p>The part of the brain dealing with <strong>understanding speech</strong> is <a href="http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Wernicke's area</a> (Fig. 1), and is also a distinct anatomical structure in the brain.</p>

<p>The <a href="http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">angular gyrus</a> has also been associated with specific speech production pathologies (Fig. 1).</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/yDJFO.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/yDJFO.jpg" alt="auditory system"></a><br>
<sup>Fig. 1. Central auditory system. source: <a href="http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_10/i_10_cr/i_10_cr_lan/i_10_cr_lan.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">McGill University</a></sup>  </p>

<p><sub><strong>Reference</strong><br>
<strong>-</strong> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Purves <em>et al</em>. (eds). <em>Neuroscience</em>, 2<sup>nd</sup> ed. (2001). Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates</a></sub></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-04T16:20:21.727Z
in general, would being distinct in analogy mean there is distinction in function?
Ooker
CC BY-SA 4.0
2016-05-18T08:14:03.403Z
2018-07-06T13:23:56.870Z
2018-07-06T13:23:56.870Z
AliceD
<p>I am an English major currently taking a Psycholinguistics module. One of the things we learned is that speech perception is handled differently from non-speech sound perception. Our brain is trained to break down speech signals more intricately than non-speech information, which is why we are able to distinguish syllable and word boundaries.</p>

<p>Since speech sounds are perceived differently than general sounds, my question is this: <strong>do different areas of the brain light up when speech is perceived as opposed to a general sound?</strong></p>

<p>I've spent a few hours Googling this, but I found no answers. The only thing I found is that a particular section of the temporal lobe is responsible for auditory perception.</p>

<p>I would expect that a general sound activates mainly the temporal lobe while hearing speech would activate the temporal lobe and areas of the brain associated with the words currently in the content of the speech.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-09-22T18:50:19.680Z
Take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernicke's_area and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_cortex
Justas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-07-07T02:10:42.493Z
There is a 2012 comprehensive review (with diagrams and a detailed map of language areas) that might be of your interest here: [A review of PET and fMRI studies of heard speech, spoken language and reading](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3398395/). Please check it out if it seems interesting.
user287279
<cognitive-psychology><neuroscience><neuroanatomy>
Are the language and sound centres of the brain in the same area?
user9383
# Are the language and sound centres of the brain in the same area?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2015-09-22)

I am an English major currently taking a Psycholinguistics module. One of the things we learned is that speech perception is handled differently from non-speech sound perception. Our brain is trained to break down speech signals more intricately than non-speech information, which is why we are able to distinguish syllable and word boundaries.

Since speech sounds are perceived differently than general sounds, my question is this: **do different areas of the brain light up when speech is perceived as opposed to a general sound?**

I've spent a few hours Googling this, but I found no answers. The only thing I found is that a particular section of the temporal lobe is responsible for auditory perception.

I would expect that a general sound activates mainly the temporal lobe while hearing speech would activate the temporal lobe and areas of the brain associated with the words currently in the content of the speech.

**Tags:** cognitive-psychology, neuroscience, neuroanatomy

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Take a look at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wernicke's_area and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auditory_cortex  
> **username_2**: There is a 2012 comprehensive review (with diagrams and a detailed map of language areas) that might be of your interest here: [A review of PET and fMRI studies of heard speech, spoken language and reading](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3398395/). Please check it out if it seems interesting.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2016-05-18. Score: 3

**Short answer**  
The primary auditory cortex is mainly involved in relatively simple processing of sound. The language areas involved in producing and understanding speech are associative auditory cortices and are considered to be areas higher up in the hierarchy. They are connected to the primary auditory cortex, but are situated at anatomically different locations in the brain.

**Background**  
The [primary auditory cortex](https://www.dartmouth.edu/~rswenson/NeuroSci/chapter_11.html) is engaged in the **low-level processing** of sound. For example, it contains a tonotopic map that is used to separately process the various frequencies in the incoming sound [(Purves *et al*., 2001)](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/) (Fig. 1).

The language area involved in **production of speech** of the brain is called [Broca's area](http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html) (Fig. 1) and is anatomically distinct from the primary auditory cortex.

The part of the brain dealing with **understanding speech** is [Wernicke's area](http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html) (Fig. 1), and is also a distinct anatomical structure in the brain.

The [angular gyrus](http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/speechbrain.html) has also been associated with specific speech production pathologies (Fig. 1).

[![auditory system](https://i.sstatic.net/yDJFO.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/yDJFO.jpg)  
Fig. 1. Central auditory system. source: [McGill University](http://thebrain.mcgill.ca/flash/i/i_10/i_10_cr/i_10_cr_lan/i_10_cr_lan.html)

**Reference**  
**-** [Purves *et al*. (eds). *Neuroscience*, 2nd ed. (2001). Sunderland (MA): Sinauer Associates](http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK10900/)

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: in general, would being distinct in analogy mean there is distinction in function?  

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