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Voice-sensitive brain networks encode talker-specific phonetic detail.

Emily B Myers1, Rachel M Theodore2

  • 1University of Connecticut, Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences, 850 Bolton Road, Unit 1085, Storrs, CT 06269-1085, United States; University of Connecticut, Department of Psychological Sciences, 406 Babbidge Road, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT 06269-1020, United States; Haskins Laboratories, 300 George Street, Suite 900, New Haven, CT 06511, United States; Connecticut Institute for the Brain and Cognitive Sciences, 337 Mansfield Road, Unit 1272, Storrs, CT 06269-1085, United States.

Brain and Language
|November 30, 2016
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

The brain processes voice and speech differently. Right brain areas track talker identity using voice-onset-time (VOT), while left areas focus on phonetic sounds, revealing how we recognize voices.

Keywords:
Phonetic processingSuperior temporal gyrusVOTVoice recognition

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Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Auditory Perception
  • Speech Processing

Background:

  • The speech signal conveys both talker identity and linguistic information.
  • Acoustic properties like voice-onset-time (VOT) can serve dual roles in speech perception.
  • Neural mechanisms for separating talker-specific from phonetic information remain unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate how the brain distinguishes talker identity from phonetic content using voice-onset-time (VOT).
  • To explore the neural basis of parsing acoustic cues for voice recognition versus phonetic categorization.

Main Methods:

  • Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to measure brain activation.
  • Listeners performed a phonetic categorization task on speech stimuli from two talkers with distinct VOTs.
  • Analysis focused on brain regions sensitive to talker identity and phonetic typicality.

Main Results:

  • Right temporoparietal regions showed sensitivity to the congruence between VOT and talker identity.
  • Left posterior temporal regions responded to phonetic exemplar typicality, irrespective of the talker.
  • This suggests distinct neural pathways for processing talker-specific and phonetic information.

Conclusions:

  • Neural systems for voice recognition are attuned to talker-specific phonetic variations.
  • The brain utilizes distinct regions for identifying who is speaking versus what is being said.
  • This research clarifies the neural parsing of acoustic cues in complex speech perception.