On the role of the supramarginal gyrus in phonological processing and verbal working memory: evidence from rTMS studies

Abstract

The supramarginal gyrus (SMG) is activated for phonological processing during both language and verbal working memory tasks. Using rTMS, we investigated whether the contribution of the SMG to phonological processing is domain specific (specific to phonology) or more domain general (specific to verbal working memory). A measure of phonological complexity was developed based on sonority differences and subjects were tested after low frequency rTMS on a same/different judgment task and an n-back verbal memory task. It was reasoned that if the phonological processing in the SMG is more domain general, i.e., related to verbal working memory demands, performance would be more affected by the rTMS during the n-back task than during the same/different judgment task. Two auditory experiments were conducted. The first experiment demonstrated that under conditions where working memory demands are minimized (i.e. same/different judgment), repetitive stimulation had no effect on performance although performance varied as a function of phonological complexity. The second experiment demonstrated that during a verbal working memory task (n-back task), where phonological complexity was also manipulated, subjects were less accurate and slower at performing the task after stimulation but the effect of phonology was not affected. The results confirm that the SMG is involved in verbal working memory but not in the encoding of sonority differences.

Keywords: Phonological processing; Supramarginal gyrus; Transcranial magnetic stimulation; Verbal working memory.