Changes in excitability of the human motor cortex face area by observing speech

Introduction: The human mirror neuron system (MNS) plays an important role in acqusition of new motor skills. When one observes a particular movement performed by another person and imitates this movement, this area is activated and the motor cortex representation of this movement is also activated. In humans, the MNS is involved in observing not only limb movement but also speech. In the present study, we examined changes in human motor cortex excitability by observation of speech using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). Methods: Twelve healthy right handed subjects participated in this study. TMS was app…