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Cited by 310Neuroscience and Music PerceptionTactile and Sensory InteractionsPhonetics and Phonology Research

The Developmental Origins of Voice Processing in the Human Brain

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Grossmann, Tobias, Oberecker, Regine, Koch, Stefan Paul, Friederici, Angela D.·2010·Neuron
DOI 10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.001PMC PMC2852650
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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.

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  • Exposure to prosodic exaggerations in IDS is positively associated with early communicative development.

    “Neurophysiological studies provide further evidence that exposure to prosodic exaggerations in IDS is positively associated with early communicative development.”

    From Effect of maternal depression on infant-directed speech to prelinguistic infants: Implications for language development (2020) · cites this paper as [12]

    In the Discussion’s “Processing Emotional Prosody” section (page unavailable), the paper describes exaggerated pitch in infant-directed speech and reports that its happy prosody has been found to facilitate infant language and word learning. Its own neurophysiological result concerns infants’ brain responses to happy prosody; it does not establish an association between exposure to prosodic exaggeration and early communicative development. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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  • By 7 months of age, infants exposed to happy emotional prosody show increased neural responses in a voice-sensitive region in the right hemisphere.

    “Another showed that by 7-months of age, infants that are exposed to happy emotional prosody show increased neural responses in a voice-sensitive region in the right hemisphere of the brain [12].”

    From Effect of maternal depression on infant-directed speech to prelinguistic infants: Implications for language development (2020) · cites this paper as [12]

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Authors
Grossmann, T., Oberecker, R., Koch, S. P., & Friederici, A. D.
Affiliations
  • Max Planck Society (DE)
  • Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (DE)
Corresponding author
Grossmann, Tobias
ORCID
Venue
Neuron
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2010-03
Volume
65
Issue
6
Pages
852-858
ISSN
0896-6273 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.neuron.2010.03.001
PMC
PMC2852650
OpenAlex
W2017161938
Cited by
310
References
6
Citations by year
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FWCI
15.13
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Neuron (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • BIROn (Birkbeck, University of London) (submittedVersion)
  • Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
  • MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (082659/Z/07/Z)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Neuroscience and Music Perception
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Tactile and Sensory Interactions
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Phonetics and Phonology Research
Keywords
voice processing, infant brain development, superior temporal cortex, emotional prosody, emotional speech perception, right hemisphere, inferior frontal cortex, hemispheric lateralization, auditory cortex maturation
MeSH terms
Acoustic Stimulation, Auditory Perception, Brain, Female, Humans, Infant, Male, Speech Perception, Temporal Lobe, Voice, Emotional Intelligence

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