Harvard Catalyst Profiles

The human brain has a remarkable capacity to extract meaning from acoustical signals and relate this sensory input to articulatory motor representations to produce speech. Over half a century ago, the motor theory of speech perception (MTSP) argued that production circuits are necessary for speech perception. Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) studies of the primary motor cortex (M1) suggest that the excitability of muscles controlling the tongue increases during listening to speech and during viewing speech-related movements. However, several critical arguments exist against the experimental evidence that supports MTSP. In this project, we aim to pinpoint areas of articulatory motor pathways at high resolution using 7 T fMRI, which provides better sensitivity and signal-to-noise ratio than traditional MRI field strengths. MD or Ph.D. candidates passionate about brain science integrated with cutting-edge neuroimage and neuromodulation are welcome to participate. The minimal time commitment is three-month and can be 12 months or longer with hands-on training in ultra-high-field fMRI data collection, fMRI-guided navigation TMS operation, or if with solid programming skills, can remotely work on fantastic data analysis.