Mapping functional variability in the brain: functional precision imaging as a window to study language and its relation to speech perception and production

High-level cognitive systems, such as language, show vast inter-individual variability in their precise topographical localization. Traditional analytical approaches which interpret observed activations based on their coarse-level anatomical localization and the function associated with that location by previous studies, fail to account for this topographical variability. These challenges may be circumvented by employing functional localization in a precision imaging paradigm. This approach identifies functional entities in the brain of each individual, capturing variability in the brain’s functional topography and allowing for rich and systematic characterization of each area’s function.

This talk will discuss the application of precision functional localization to study the language system and its relationship with neighboring, yet functionally distinct, speech perception and speech production systems. First, I will show that functional localization provides a more precise alternative to study language compared to approaches based on group-level averaging and referring to standard anatomical parcellations, as the language system does not necessarily align with anatomical boundaries in the brain. Second, I will demonstrate how functional localization allows us to precisely disentangle high-level language from systems supporting speech perception and articulation, addressing questions of their functional profiles as well as topographical overlap.