Activation in the angular gyrus and in the pSTS is modulated by face primes during voice recognition

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to better understand the interaction of face and voice processing when identifying people. In a S1-S2 crossmodal priming fMRI experiment, the target (S2) was a disyllabic voice stimulus, whereas the modality of the prime (S1) was manipulated blockwise and consisted of the silent video of a speaking face in the crossmodal condition or of a voice stimulus in the unimodal condition. Primes and targets were from the same speaker (person-congruent) or from two different speakers (person-incongruent). Participants had to classify the S2 as either an old or a young person. Response times were shorter after a congruent than after an incongruent face prime. The right posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) and the right angular gyrus showed a significant person identity effect (person-incongruent > person-congruent) in the crossmodal condition but not in the unimodal condition. In the unimodal condition, a person identity effect was observed in the bilateral inferior frontal gyrus. Our data suggest that both the priming with a voice and with a face result in a preactivated voice representation of the respective person, which eventually facilitates (person-congruent trials) or hampers (person-incongruent trials) the processing of the identity of a subsequent voice. This process involves activation in the right pSTS and in the right angular gyrus for voices primed by faces, but not for voices primed by voices. Hum Brain Mapp 38:2553-2565, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Obligatory and facultative brain regions for voice-identity recognition

“…Such tasks are not usually used in neuroimaging studies on voice-identity recognition, which likely explains the paucity of parietal lobe responses in neuroimaging studies on voice processing ( Belin and Zatorre, 2003 ; von Kriegstein et al , 2003 ; Andics et al , 2010 ). However, the results of two neuroimaging studies, which investigated crossmodal voice-face priming and voice-face learning, respectively, are congruent with the suggestion that the right inferior parietal lobe is involved in a representation of person-related voice and face information ( von Kriegstein and Giraud, 2006 ; Holig et al , 2017 ). They showed that the inferior parietal lobe is involved in voice-identity recognition for voices learned with faces, but not with names ( von Kriegstein and Giraud, 2006 ).…”

Hierarchical Brain Network for Face and Voice Integration of Emotion Expression

“…While previous studies have also shown evidence that the integration of emotion face and voice stimuli occurs in the pSTS (Ethofer et al 2006;Romanski 2007;Kreifelts et al 2009;Watson, Latinus, Noguchi, et al 2014;Hölig et al 2017), other studies have suggested that MSI may occur via direct reciprocal connections between unimodal face and voice regions (von Kriegstein and Giraud 2006). One possible explanation for this discrepancy is due to the fact that the former studies did not independently localize face-and voice-selective regions, and test MSI within these regions.…”

“…Influential models of identity recognition suggest 2 largely distinct brain networks for face and voice processing, with a shared multisensory convergence zone for the integration of information across sensory modalities (Bruce and Young 1986;Burton et al 1990;Haxby et al 2000;Watson, Latinus, Charest, et al 2014). Some studies have suggested that the integration of facial and vocal emotional signals occur in multisensory regions like the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and posterior superior temporal sulcus (pSTS) (Romanski 2007;Kreifelts et al 2009;Peelen et al 2010;Watson, Latinus, Charest, et al 2014;Hölig et al 2017); regions separate from the core face-and voice-selective network (Campanella and Belin 2007). However, the absence of independent localizers in these studies makes it difficult to ascertain whether regions showing multisensory integration are located within face-or voice-selective regions or instead occurs within an independent convergence zone.…”

Hierarchical Brain Network for Face and Voice Integration of Emotion Expression

“…Influential models of identity recognition suggest two largely distinct brain networks for face and voice processing, with a shared multisensory convergence zone for the integration of information across sensory modalities (Bruce and Young 1986;Burton et al 1990;Haxby et al 2000;Watson, Latinus, Charest, et al 2014). Some studies have suggested that the integration of facial and vocal emotional signals occur in multisensory regions like the amygdala, orbitofrontal cortex, and posterior superior temporal sulcus (STS) (Romanski 2007;Kreifelts et al 2009;Peelen et al 2010;Watson, Latinus, Charest, et al 2014;Hölig et al 2017); regions separate from the core face and voice selective network (Campanella and Belin 2007). However, the absence of independent localisers in these studies makes it difficult to ascertain whether regions showing multisensory integration are located within face-or voice-selective regions, or instead occurs within an independent convergence zone.…”