Voice perception deficits: neuroanatomical correlates of phonagnosia

Voice perception (recognition of familiar voices and discrimination of unfamiliar voices) was studied in brain-damaged patients and normal controls. Left- and right-brain-damaged subjects were tested on familiar voices (25 famous males) and 26 pairs of unfamiliar voices. Deficits in recognizing familiar voices were significantly correlated with right-hemisphere damage; discrimination of unfamiliar voices was worse in both clinical groups than in normal controls. Computerized tomographic scans indicated that an intact right parietal-lobe was present in all cases of normal voice recognition, while right parietal-lobe damage was significantly correlated with a deficit in voice recognition. Temporal-lobe damage of either hemisphere was associated with a voice discrimination deficit.