Neuromagnetic studies of human auditory cortex function and reorganization

Much of our present understanding of sensory processing by the human brain is obtained from studies of patients with sensory impairments. Past auditor y studies have focused strongly on the peripheral mechanisms of hearing dis orders, and have led to an overuse of stimuli that are good for testing the transfer functions of simple acoustic features but are not suitable for un derstanding the perception of complex auditory stimuli or stimulus sequence s. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a non-invasive method for studying how t he human brain processes and stores auditory information. The long-term gro undwork in building up the basic understanding of cortical dynamics during various ''simple'' stimulations now allows the use of more complex, real-li fe-like stimuli, and clinical applications.