Sex matters: Neural correlates of voice gender perception

The basis for different neural activations in response to male and female voices as well as the question, whether men and women perceive male and female voices differently, has not been thoroughly investigated. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the behavioral and neural correlates of gender-related voice perception in healthy male and female volunteers. fMRI data were collected while 39 participants (19 female) were asked to indicate the gender of 240 voice stimuli. These stimuli included recordings of 3-syllable nouns as well as the same recordings pitch-shifted in 2, 4 and 6 semitone steps in the direction of the other gender. Data analysis revealed a) equal voice discrimination sensitivity in men and women but better performance in the categorization of opposite-sex stimuli at least in men, b) increased responses to increasing gender ambiguity in the mid cingulate cortex and bilateral inferior frontal gyri, and c) stronger activation in a fronto-temporal neural network in response to voices of the opposite sex. Our results indicate a gender specific processing for male and female voices on a behavioral and neuronal level. We suggest that our results reflect higher sensitivity probably due to the evolutionary relevance of voice perception in mate selection.