Figure 3. Candidate roles for auditory streams of processing during conversation.

The arrows originating from primary auditory cortex illustrate a functional division in how sounds are processed (following from the streams of processing shown in Figure 1). Meaning of sound, especially linguistic meaning in speech, is decoded primarily in the superior temporal lobe and anterior to primary auditory cortex [A1] (light blue arrow). We suggest that aspects of coordinating conversation, in particular turn-taking, are mediated by the posterior ‘how’ pathway (dark blue arrow). This perception-action pathway subserves monitoring of the speech signal for rhythm and rate, which enables the listener to anticipate the end of a speaker’s turn, and thereby facilitates smooth turn-taking.