Auditory and visual modulation of temporal lobe neurons in voice-sensitive and association cortices

Perrodin, C., Kayser, C., Logothetis, N.K. and Petkov, C.I. (2014) Auditory and visual modulation of temporal lobe neurons in voice-sensitive and association cortices. Journal of Neuroscience, 34(7), pp. 2524-2537. (doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2805-13.2014)

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Abstract

Effective interactions between conspecific individuals can depend upon the receiver forming a coherent multisensory representation of communication signals, such as merging voice and face content. Neuroimaging studies have identified face- or voice-sensitive areas (Belin et al., 2000; Petkov et al., 2008; Tsao et al., 2008), some of which have been proposed as candidate regions for face and voice integration (von Kriegstein et al., 2005). However, it was unclear how multisensory influences occur at the neuronal level within voice- or face-sensitive regions, especially compared with classically defined multisensory regions in temporal association cortex (Stein and Stanford, 2008). Here, we characterize auditory (voice) and visual (face) influences on neuronal responses in a right-hemisphere voice-sensitive region in the anterior supratemporal plane (STP) of Rhesus macaques. These results were compared with those in the neighboring superior temporal sulcus (STS). Within the STP, our results show auditory sensitivity to several vocal features, which was not evident in STS units. We also newly identify a functionally distinct neuronal subpopulation in the STP that appears to carry the area's sensitivity to voice identity related features. Audiovisual interactions were prominent in both the STP and STS. However, visual influences modulated the responses of STS neurons with greater specificity and were more often associated with congruent voice-face stimulus pairings than STP neurons. Together, the results reveal the neuronal processes subserving voice-sensitive fMRI activity patterns in primates, generate hypotheses for testing in the visual modality, and clarify the position of voice-sensitive areas within the unisensory and multisensory processing hierarchies.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Kayser, Professor Christoph
Authors: Perrodin, C., Kayser, C., Logothetis, N.K., and Petkov, C.I.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Journal Name:Journal of Neuroscience
Publisher:The Society for Neuroscience
ISSN:0270-6474
ISSN (Online):1529-2401
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2014 The Authors
First Published:First published in the Journal of Neuroscience 34(7):2524-2537
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
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