Journal article 904 views 373 downloads
Hierarchical Brain Network for Face and Voice Integration of Emotion Expression
Jodie Davies-Thompson 
,
Giulia V Elli,
Mohamed Rezk,
Stefania Benetti,
Markus van Ackeren,
Olivier Collignon
,
Giulia V Elli,
Mohamed Rezk,
Stefania Benetti,
Markus van Ackeren,
Olivier Collignon
Cerebral Cortex, Volume: 29, Issue: 9, Pages: 3590 - 3605
Swansea University Author:
Jodie Davies-Thompson
-
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DOI (Published version): 10.1093/cercor/bhy240
Abstract
The brain has separate specialized computational units to process faces and voices located in occipital and temporal cortices. However, humans seamlessly integrate signals from the faces and voices of others for optimal social interaction. How are emotional expressions, when delivered by different s...
| Published in: | Cerebral Cortex |
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| ISSN: | 1047-3211 1460-2199 |
| Published: |
Oxford University Press (OUP)
2019
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| Online Access: |
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa45285 |
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| Abstract: |
The brain has separate specialized computational units to process faces and voices located in occipital and temporal cortices. However, humans seamlessly integrate signals from the faces and voices of others for optimal social interaction. How are emotional expressions, when delivered by different sensory modalities (faces and voices), integrated in the brain? In this study, we characterized the brains' response to faces, voices, and combined face-voice information (congruent, incongruent), which varied in expression (neutral, fearful). Using a whole-brain approach, we found that only the right posterior superior temporal sulcus (rpSTS) responded more to bimodal stimuli than to face or voice alone but only when the stimuli contained emotional expression. Face- and voice-selective regions of interest, extracted from independent functional localizers, similarly revealed multisensory integration in the face-selective rpSTS only; further, this was the only face-selective region that also responded significantly to voices. Dynamic causal modeling revealed that the rpSTS receives unidirectional information from the face-selective fusiform face area, and voice-selective temporal voice area, with emotional expression affecting the connection strength. Our study promotes a hierarchical model of face and voice integration, with convergence in the rpSTS, and that such integration depends on the (emotional) salience of the stimuli. |
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| Keywords: |
emotional expression, faces, fMRI, multisensory, voice |
| College: |
Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences |
| Issue: |
9 |
| Start Page: |
3590 |
| End Page: |
3605 |