Neural sources involved in auditory target detection and novelty processing: An event-related fMRI study

We used event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging (erfMRI) techni ques to examine the cerebral sites involved with target detection and novel ty processing of auditory stimuli. Consistent with the results from a recen t erfMRI study in the visual modality, target processing was associated wit h activation bilaterally in the anterior superior temporal gyrus, inferior and middle frontal gyrus, inferior and superior parietal lobules, anterior and posterior cingulate, thalamus, caudate, and the amygdala/hippocampal co mplex. Analyses of the novel stimuli revealed activation bilaterally in the inferior frontal gyrus, insula, inferior parietal lobule, and in the infer ior, middle, and superior temporal gyri. These data suggest that the scalp recorded event-related potentials (e.g., N2 and P3) elicited during similar tasks reflect an ensemble of neural generators located in spatially remote cortical areas.