Gender differences in the temporal voice areas

Ahrens, M. M., Hasan, B. A. S., Giordano, B. and Belin, P. (2014) Gender differences in the temporal voice areas. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 8, 228. (doi: 10.3389/fnins.2014.00228) (PMID:25126055) (PMCID:PMC4115625)

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Publisher's URL: http://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fnins.2014.00228/full

Abstract

There is not only evidence for behavioral differences in voice perception between female and male listeners, but also recent suggestions for differences in neural correlates between genders. The fMRI functional voice localizer (comprising a univariate analysis contrasting stimulation with vocal versus non-vocal sounds) is known to give robust estimates of the temporal voice areas (TVAs). However there is growing interest in employing multivariate analysis approaches to fMRI data (e.g. multivariate pattern analysis; MVPA). The aim of the current study was to localize voice-related areas in both female and male listeners and to investigate whether brain maps may differ depending on the gender of the listener. After a univariate analysis, a random effects analysis was performed on female (n = 149) and male (n = 123) listeners and contrasts between them were computed. In addition, MVPA with a whole-brain searchlight approach was implemented and classification maps were entered into a second-level permutation based random effects models using statistical non-parametric mapping (SnPM; Nichols & Holmes 2002). Gender differences were found only in the MVPA. Identified regions were located in the middle part of the middle temporal gyrus (bilateral) and the middle superior temporal gyrus (right hemisphere). Our results suggest differences in classifier performance between genders in response to the voice localizer with higher classification accuracy from local BOLD signal patterns in several temporal-lobe regions in female listeners.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Belin, Professor Pascal and Hasan, Dr Bashar Awwad Sh and Giordano, Dr Bruno and Ahrens, Miss Merle
Authors: Ahrens, M. M., Hasan, B. A. S., Giordano, B., and Belin, P.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
Journal Name:Frontiers in Neuroscience
Publisher:Frontiers Research Foundation
ISSN:1662-4548
ISSN (Online):1662-453X
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2014 The Authors
First Published:First published in Frontiers in Neuroscience 8:228
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
561961Audiovisual integration of identity information from the face and voice: a combined behavioural, fMRI and MEG studyPascal BelinBiotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC)BB/I022287/1INP - CENTRE FOR COGNITIVE NEUROIMAGING