Work

The Developmental Origins of Voice Processing in the Human Brain

Year: 2010

Type: article

Abstract: In human adults, voices are processed in specialized brain regions in superior temporal cortices. We examined the development of this cortical organization during infancy by using near-infrared spectroscopy. In experiment 1, 7-month-olds but not 4-month-olds showed increased responses in left and right superior temporal cortex to the human voice when compared to nonvocal sounds, suggesting that voice-sensitive brain systems emerge between 4 and 7 months of age. In experiment 2, 7-month-old infants listened to words spoken with neutral, happy, or angry prosody. Hearing emotional prosody resulted in increased responses in a voice-sensitive region in the right hemisphere. Moreover, a region in right inferior frontal cortex taken to serve evaluative functions in the adult brain showed particular sensitivity to happy prosody. The pattern of findings suggests that temporal regions specialize in processing voices very early in development and that, already in infancy, emotions differentially modulate voice processing in the right hemisphere.

Source: Neuron

DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.001

Authors: Tobias Grossmann, Regine Oberecker, Stefan Paul Koch, Angela D. Friederici

Institutions: Max Planck Society, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, Birkbeck, University of London, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Language: English

Topic: Neuroscience and Music Perception

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $10,400

Funder: Wellcome Trust