1
|
Frühholz S, Dietziker J, Staib M, Trost W. Neurocognitive processing efficiency for discriminating human non-alarm rather than alarm scream calls. PLoS Biol 2021; 19:e3000751. [PMID: 33848299 PMCID: PMC8043411 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000751] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Accepted: 02/15/2021] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Across many species, scream calls signal the affective significance of events to other agents. Scream calls were often thought to be of generic alarming and fearful nature, to signal potential threats, with instantaneous, involuntary, and accurate recognition by perceivers. However, scream calls are more diverse in their affective signaling nature than being limited to fearfully alarming a threat, and thus the broader sociobiological relevance of various scream types is unclear. Here we used 4 different psychoacoustic, perceptual decision-making, and neuroimaging experiments in humans to demonstrate the existence of at least 6 psychoacoustically distinctive types of scream calls of both alarming and non-alarming nature, rather than there being only screams caused by fear or aggression. Second, based on perceptual and processing sensitivity measures for decision-making during scream recognition, we found that alarm screams (with some exceptions) were overall discriminated the worst, were responded to the slowest, and were associated with a lower perceptual sensitivity for their recognition compared with non-alarm screams. Third, the neural processing of alarm compared with non-alarm screams during an implicit processing task elicited only minimal neural signal and connectivity in perceivers, contrary to the frequent assumption of a threat processing bias of the primate neural system. These findings show that scream calls are more diverse in their signaling and communicative nature in humans than previously assumed, and, in contrast to a commonly observed threat processing bias in perceptual discriminations and neural processes, we found that especially non-alarm screams, and positive screams in particular, seem to have higher efficiency in speeded discriminations and the implicit neural processing of various scream types in humans.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Sascha Frühholz
- Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Neuroscience Center Zurich, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- Department of Psychology, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway
- Center for the Interdisciplinary Study of Language Evolution, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
- * E-mail:
| | - Joris Dietziker
- Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Staib
- Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Wiebke Trost
- Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience Unit, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Bodin C, Belin P. Exploring the cerebral substrate of voice perception in primate brains. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2019; 375:20180386. [PMID: 31735143 PMCID: PMC6895549 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0386] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
One can consider human language to be the Swiss army knife of the vast domain of animal communication. There is now growing evidence suggesting that this technology may have emerged from already operational material instead of being a sudden innovation. Sharing ideas and thoughts with conspecifics via language constitutes an amazing ability, but what value would it hold if our conspecifics were not first detected and recognized? Conspecific voice (CV) perception is fundamental to communication and widely shared across the animal kingdom. Two questions that arise then are: is this apparently shared ability reflected in common cerebral substrate? And, how has this substrate evolved? The paper addresses these questions by examining studies on the cerebral basis of CV perception in humans' closest relatives, non-human primates. Neuroimaging studies, in particular, suggest the existence of a ‘voice patch system’, a network of interconnected cortical areas that can provide a common template for the cerebral processing of CV in primates. This article is part of the theme issue ‘What can animal communication teach us about human language?’
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Clémentine Bodin
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France
| | - Pascal Belin
- Institut de Neurosciences de la Timone, UMR 7289 Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Aix-Marseille Université, Marseille, France.,Département de Psychologie, Université de Montréal, Montréal, Canada
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Hedwig D, Verahrami AK, Wrege PH. Acoustic structure of forest elephant rumbles: a test of the ambiguity reduction hypothesis. Anim Cogn 2019; 22:1115-1128. [PMID: 31535246 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-019-01304-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/02/2019] [Revised: 08/13/2019] [Accepted: 08/31/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Quantitative assessments of the structure of vocalizations are a fundamental prerequisite to understand a species' vocal communication system and, more broadly, the selective pressures shaping vocal repertoires. For example, to reduce ambiguity in signal interpretation in the absence of auxiliary visual cues, species in densely vegetated habitats should exhibit more discrete vocal signals than species in open habitats. To test this "ambiguity reduction hypothesis", we conducted the first quantitative assessment of the rumble vocalizations of the forest elephant. Based on 686 forest elephant rumbles recorded with autonomous acoustic recording units at four sites across Central Africa, we used model-based cluster analyses paired with subsequent evaluation of cluster-discreteness and discriminant function analyses to quantify the structure of rumbles based on 23 source- and filter-related acoustic parameters. Model-based cluster analyses suggest that rumbles can be classified into five to eight types. Similar to previous findings in savannah elephants and contrary to the ambiguity reduction hypothesis, average silhouette coefficients below 0.34 indicated that these rumble types were highly intergraded. However, discriminant function analyses predicted rumble types with at least 75% accuracy whereby the location of the minimum fundamental frequency, middle slope and peak frequency contributed most to separation between types. In line with an increasing number of studies highlighting that a distinction between discrete and graded repertoires may have little biological significance, we propose that ambiguity reduction may take place through the evolution of perceptual and cognitive mechanisms, rather than acting on vocal production.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Daniela Hedwig
- Elephant Listening Project, Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA.
| | - Anahita K Verahrami
- Elephant Listening Project, Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| | - Peter H Wrege
- Elephant Listening Project, Center for Conservation Bioacoustics, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Fischer J, Wadewitz P, Hammerschmidt K. Structural variability and communicative complexity in acoustic communication. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2016.06.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
|
5
|
Bouchet H, Koda H, Masataka N, Lemasson A. Vocal flexibility in nonhuman primates and the origins of human language. REVUE DE PRIMATOLOGIE 2016. [DOI: 10.4000/primatologie.2637] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
|
6
|
Christison-Lagay KL, Bennur S, Blackwell J, Lee JH, Schroeder T, Cohen YE. Natural variability in species-specific vocalizations constrains behavior and neural activity. Hear Res 2014; 312:128-42. [PMID: 24721001 PMCID: PMC4057037 DOI: 10.1016/j.heares.2014.03.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2014] [Revised: 03/07/2014] [Accepted: 03/13/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
A listener's capacity to discriminate between sounds is related to the amount of acoustic variability that exists between these sounds. However, a full understanding of how this natural variability impacts neural activity and behavior is lacking. Here, we tested monkeys' ability to discriminate between different utterances of vocalizations from the same acoustic class (i.e., coos and grunts), while neural activity was simultaneously recorded in the anterolateral belt region (AL) of the auditory cortex, a brain region that is a part of a pathway that mediates auditory perception. Monkeys could discriminate between coos better than they could discriminate between grunts. We also found AL activity was more informative about different coos than different grunts. This difference could be attributed, in part, to our finding that coos had more acoustic variability than grunts. Thus, intrinsic acoustic variability constrained the discriminability of AL spike trains and the ability of rhesus monkeys to discriminate between vocalizations.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Sharath Bennur
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jennifer Blackwell
- Neuroscience Graduate Group, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Jung H Lee
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Tim Schroeder
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
| | - Yale E Cohen
- Dept. Otorhinolaryngology, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Neuroscience, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Bioengineering, U. Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
|
8
|
Romanski LM, Averbeck BB, Diltz M. Neural Representation of Vocalizations in the Primate Ventrolateral Prefrontal Cortex. J Neurophysiol 2005; 93:734-47. [PMID: 15371495 DOI: 10.1152/jn.00675.2004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 166] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022] Open
Abstract
In this study, we examined the role of the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex in encoding communication stimuli. Specifically, we recorded single-unit responses from the ventrolateral prefrontal cortext (vlPFC) in awake behaving rhesus macaques in response to species-specific vocalizations. We determined the selectivity of vlPFC cells for 10 types of rhesus vocalizations and also asked what types of vocalizations cluster together in the neuronal response. The data from the present study demonstrate that vlPFC auditory neurons respond to a variety of species-specific vocalizations from a previously characterized library. Most vlPFC neurons responded to two to five vocalizations, while a small percentage of cells responded either selectively to a particular vocalization type or nonselectively to most auditory stimuli tested. Use of information theoretic approaches to examine vocalization tuning indicates that on average, vlPFC neurons encode information about one or two vocalizations. Further analysis of the types of vocalizations that vlPFC cells typically respond to using hierarchical cluster analysis suggests that the responses of vlPFC cells to multiple vocalizations is not based strictly on the call's function or meaning but may be due to other features including acoustic morphology. These data are consistent with a role for the primate vlPFC in assessing distinctive acoustic features.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Lizabeth M Romanski
- Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14642, USA.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
9
|
Poremba A, Malloy M, Saunders RC, Carson RE, Herscovitch P, Mishkin M. Species-specific calls evoke asymmetric activity in the monkey's temporal poles. Nature 2004; 427:448-51. [PMID: 14749833 DOI: 10.1038/nature02268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 205] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/24/2003] [Accepted: 12/05/2003] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
It has often been proposed that the vocal calls of monkeys are precursors of human speech, in part because they provide critical information to other members of the species who rely on them for survival and social interactions. Both behavioural and lesion studies suggest that monkeys, like humans, use the auditory system of the left hemisphere preferentially to process vocalizations. To investigate the pattern of neural activity that might underlie this particular form of functional asymmetry in monkeys, we measured local cerebral metabolic activity while the animals listened passively to species-specific calls compared with a variety of other classes of sound. Within the superior temporal gyrus, significantly greater metabolic activity occurred on the left side than on the right, only in the region of the temporal pole and only in response to monkey calls. This functional asymmetry was absent when these regions were separated by forebrain commissurotomy, suggesting that the perception of vocalizations elicits concurrent interhemispheric interactions that focus the auditory processing within a specialized area of one hemisphere.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Amy Poremba
- Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience, Department of Psychology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa 52242, USA.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Owren MJ, Rendall D. Salience of Caller Identity in Rhesus Monkey (Macaca mulatta) Coos and Screams: Perceptual Experiments With Human (Homo sapiens) Listeners. J Comp Psychol 2003; 117:380-90. [PMID: 14717639 DOI: 10.1037/0735-7036.117.4.380] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/08/2022]
Abstract
Recent evidence from acoustic analysis and playback experiments indicates that adult female rhesus monkey (Macaca mulatta) coos are individually distinctive but their screams are not. In this study, the authors compared discrimination of individual identity in these sounds by naive human listeners who judged whether 2 sounds had been produced by the same monkey or 2 monkeys. Each of 3 experiments using this same-different design showed significantly better discrimination of vocalizer identity from coos than from screams. Experiment 1 demonstrated the basic finding. Experiment 2 also tested the effect of non-identity-related scream variation, and Experiment 3 added a comparison with human vowel sounds. Outcomes suggest that acoustic structural differences in coos and screams influence salience of caller-identity cues, with significant implications for understanding the functions of these calls.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael J Owren
- Department of Psychology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
11
|
Abstract
The ethological approach has already provided rich insights into the auditory neurobiology of a number of different taxa (e.g. birds, frogs and insects). Understanding the ethology of primates is likely to yield similar insights into the specializations of this taxa's auditory system for processing species-specific vocalisations. Here, we review the recent advances made in our understanding of primate vocal perception and its neural basis.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- A A Ghazanfar
- Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Spemannstrasse 38, 72076 Tübingen, Germany.
| | | |
Collapse
|