Behavioral and electrophysiological indices of voicing-cue discrimination: laterality patterns and development

Voicing is an important phonetic dimension that distinguishes voiced (i.e., /b/) from voiceless-aspirated stop consonants (i.e.,/ph/) in English. Perception of discrete voicing categories is affected by a number of acoustic cues. The present paper reviews evidence from brain-damaged populations indicating that the perception of certain voicing cues is less dependent upon left hemisphere mechanisms than the ability to perceive place of articulation contrasts (e.g., /b/ vs./d/). In addition, electrophysiological and dichotic listening studies with neurologically normal individuals support the view that the right hemisphere may play a special role in the categorical processing of voicing. These findings are discussed in relation to current models of hemispheric specialization and laterality for language.