21/06/2024 Seminar by Margherita Giamundo

Friday June 21, 2024, at 14:30, Henri Gastaut meeting room

Margherita Giamundo (Banco Team, INT)

Investigation of voice processing into the primate voice patch system

Abstract: Many animals can extract useful information from the vocalizations of other species. Neuroimaging studies have evidenced areas sensitive to conspecific vocalizations in the cerebral cortex of primates but how these areas process heterospecific vocalizations remains unclear. Using fMRI-guided electrophysiology, we recorded the spiking activity of individual neurons in the anterior temporal voice patches of two macaques while they listened to complex sounds including vocalizations from several species. In addition to cells selective for conspecific macaque vocalizations, we discovered an unsuspected subpopulation of neurons with strong selectivity for human voice, not merely explained by spectral or temporal structure of the sounds. These findings provide new insights into the neural mechanisms involved in auditory expertise and the evolution of communication systems in primates.