Article abstract
Nature Neuroscience 11, 367 - 374 (2008)
Published online: 10 February 2008 | doi:10.1038/nn2043
A voice region in the monkey brain
Christopher I Petkov1, Christoph Kayser1, Thomas Steudel1, Kevin Whittingstall1, Mark Augath1 & Nikos K Logothetis1,2
Abstract
For vocal animals, recognizing species-specific vocalizations is important for survival and social interactions. In humans, a voice region has been identified that is sensitive to human voices and vocalizations. As this region also strongly responds to speech, it is unclear whether it is tightly associated with linguistic processing and is thus unique to humans. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging of macaque monkeys (Old World primates, Macaca mulatta) we discovered a high-level auditory region that prefers species-specific vocalizations over other vocalizations and sounds. This region not only showed sensitivity to the 'voice' of the species, but also to the vocal identify of conspecific individuals. The monkey voice region is located on the superior-temporal plane and belongs to an anterior auditory 'what' pathway. These results establish functional relationships with the human voice region and support the notion that, for different primate species, the anterior temporal regions of the brain are adapted for recognizing communication signals from conspecifics.
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
- Imaging Science and Biomedical Engineering, Stopford Building, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, N13 9PT, UK.
Correspondence to: Christopher I Petkov1 e-mail: chris.petkov@tuebingen.mpg.de
MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS
These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.
NEWS AND VIEWS
Language evolution: neural differences that make a differenceNature Neuroscience News and Views (01 Apr 2008)
The need for a cool head: reversible inactivation reveals functional segregation in auditory cortexNature Neuroscience News and Views (01 May 2008)
See all 6 matches for News And ViewsRESEARCH
Species-specific calls activate homologs of Broca's and Wernicke's areas in the macaqueNature Neuroscience Article (01 Aug 2006)
Species-specific calls evoke asymmetric activity in the monkey's temporal polesNature Letters to Editor (29 Jan 2004)
See all 53 matches for Research
