The name is absent

67

TheroleofmultisensoryresponsesinSTSms

Visual biological motion is an especially potent activator of posterior STS
(Beauchamp, et al. 2002; Grossman and Blake 2∞2). The STS is also important for
processing speech, one of the main auditory cues used by humans to communicate
(Price 2000), with a special role for the integration of auditory and visual language cues
(Callan, et al. 2004; Calvert, et al. 2000; Macaluso, et al. 2004; Miller and D'Esposito
2005; Saito, et al. 2005; Schroeder, et al. 2008; Sekiyama, et al. 2003; van Atteveldt, et
al. 2007). STSms prefers real auditory stimuli to scrambled auditory stimuli (Beauchamp,
et al. 2004b) consistent with its role in the representation of sensory stimuli with
meaning for the individual.

Some of the most important and meaningful types of sensory stimuli are social
cues. The STS is thought to be an important node in the brain network for social
cognition (Adolphs 2003; Allison, et al. 2000). Both human and non-human primates use
visual, auditory and somatosensory cues to convey social information (Hauser and
Konishi 1999). Therefore, we speculate that multisensory integration of tactile
responses in STSms might exist in the service of understanding the actions and intents
of others. A firm pat on the back might be interpreted differently in the context of either
a friendly greeting or a sharp reprimand. Integrating across modalities would allow the
STSmstoaid the individual in Interpretingthe ambiguous cues that abound in social
interactions.

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