bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/139550; this version posted May 18, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Speech core 1 A core speech circuit between primary motor, somatosensory, and auditory cortex: Evidence from connectivity and genetic descriptions * ^ Jeremy I Skipper and Uri Hasson * Experimental Psychology, University College London, UK ^ Center for Mind/Brain Sciences (CIMeC), University of Trento, Italy, and Center for Practical Wisdom, Dept. of Psychology, The University of Chicago Running title: Speech core Words count: 20,362 Address correspondence to: Jeremy I Skipper University College London Experimental Psychology 26 Bedford Way London WC1H OAP United Kingdom E-mail:
[email protected] bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/139550; this version posted May 18, 2017. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Speech core 2 Abstract What adaptations allow humans to produce and perceive speech so effortlessly? We show that speech is supported by a largely undocumented core of structural and functional connectivity between the central sulcus (CS or primary motor and somatosensory cortex) and the transverse temporal gyrus (TTG or primary auditory cortex). Anatomically, we show that CS and TTG cortical thickness covary across individuals and that they are connected by white matter tracts.