Research provides better understanding of how the brain identifies voices

We regularly find ourselves in situations in which we talk to others. We talk to friends in a different way than we do to strangers. One important skill for this is not just understanding what the other person is saying but also recognizing who is talking. Therefore, the voice of our conversation partner helps us. Until now, scientists could not agree on exactly which regions in the brain allow us to recognize voices.

"Very valid statements about which brain areas are responsible for which functions are derived from investigations in patients with lesions. If a certain part of the brain is injured and therefore a certain function fails, both components can be related to each other", says Claudia Roswandowitz, scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) in Leipzig, and first author of a study which has revealed key findings about voice recognition. Roswandowitz, along with other researchers from the Research Group Neural Mechanisms of Human Communication, tested 58 patients with brain injuries and their capability to learn and recognize voices, especially those who had suffered a stroke. Additionally, the scientists looked at brain scans of the participants--high resolution images of their brain structures and injuries.

These findings were supported by a previous study at MPI CBS, whereby, a phenomenon commonly known as "voice blindness", phonagnosia, the inability to recognize voices, was investigated. The two involved study participants--the only ones known in Germany to be affected by phonagnosia--were not able to identify people by voice, even their own mum or child. Roswandowitz and her colleagues also detected that changes in and to the right temporal lobe led to the corresponding deficits. In comparison to the other patients with lesions, the causes did not lie in the failed brain structures but rather in their different brain activity.

"These findings improve our understanding of how the brain identifies voices and provide the basis in the search for effective therapies for those affected by phonagnosia, a fairly common deficit which is sometimes present from birth but especially after a stroke. In our studies nine per cent of the participants reported suffering from difficulties in recognizing voices, a problem that is almost unheard of in the medical sector. Thus, we have to raise awareness of this matter", says Roswandowitz.

Source:

Comments

The Secret Science 02:The 30 Most Disturbing Human Experiments in History

Disturbing human experiments aren’t something the average person thinks too much about. Rather, the progress achieved in the last 150 years of human history is an accomplishment we’re reminded of almost daily. Achievements made in fields like biomedicine and psychology mean that we no longer need to worry about things like deadly diseases or masturbation as a form of insanity. For better or worse, we have developed more effective ways to gather information, treat skin abnormalities, and even kill each other. But what we are not constantly reminded of are the human lives that have been damaged or lost in the name of this progress. The following is a list of the 30 most disturbing human experiments in history. 30. The Tearoom Sex Study Sociologist Laud Humphreys often wondered about the men who commit impersonal sexual acts with one another in public restrooms. He wondered why “tearoom sex” — fellatio in public restrooms — led to the majority of homosexual arrests in ...

The Strange and Stranger Case of Wyndham Lathem

A Northwestern University plague researcher has been charged with a brutal murder. Here’s what we know about him. WIKIMEDIA, TONY WEBSTER O n July 27, The Chicago Tribune reported that there was an arrest warrant issued for Wyndham Lathem , a microbiologist at Northwestern University. The crime Lathem would later be charged with was brutal—26-year-old Trenton James Cornell-Duranleau, whose body was found in Lathem’s apartment, had been stabbed dozens of times. But Lathem was nowhere to be found. As events unfolded over the following days, it became clear he had fled from Chicago to California with a second suspect, 56-year-old Andrew Warren, a University of Oxford employee from the United Kingdom visiting the states. Along the way, the two men apparently made an anonymous $1,000 donation in Cornell-Duranleau’s name to the Lake Geneva Public Library and another donation for $5,610 to a Chicago health center. Lathem had also sent a video to fa...

The 10 Biggest Research Scandals in Academic History

Despite their ostensible intelligence, academics are not at all immune to engaging in risky behaviors that erupt in spectacular displays of controversy. Even if they ultimately prove innocent or unaccountable, their situations always pose inevitable questions about the ethics and legalities behind the research and publication process. The following incidents in particular managed to spark fireworks on an epic scale, inciting a flurry of insight into what needs to be done to better prevent any potentially damaging abuses. Stephen Ambrose : This popular historian and professor enjoyed bestseller status and mainstream recognition for his inquiries into World War II, most notably The Wild Blue , and biographies of presidents Eisenhower and Nixon. By 2002, however, it came to light that Stephen Ambrose quite shamelessly plagiarized much of his research from lesser-known contemporary Thomas Childers, the author of Wings of Morning . Forbes launched a pa...

The Research

Search This Blog