Correcting MEG artifacts caused by overt speech

Recording brain activity during speech production using magnetoencephalography (MEG) can help us to understand the dynamics of speech production. However, these measurements are challenging due to the induced artifacts coming from several sources such as facial muscle activity, lower jaw and head movements. Here, we aimed to characterise speech-related artifacts and subsequently present an approach to remove these artifacts from MEG data. We recorded MEG from 11 healthy participants while they pronounced various syllables in different loudness. Head positions/orientations were extracted during speech production to investigate its role in MEG distortions. Finally, we present an artifact rejection approach using the combination of regression analysis and signal space projection (SSP) in order to correct the induced artifact from MEG data. Our results show that louder speech leads to stronger head movements and stronger MEG distortions. Our proposed artifact rejection approach could successfully remove the speech-related artifact and retrieve the underlying neurophysiological signals. As the presented artifact rejection approach was shown to remove artifacts induced by overt speech in the MEG, it will facilitate research addressing the neural basis of speech production with MEG.