Temudo Sara, Pinheiro Ana P
University of Lisbon.
J Cogn Neurosci. 2025 Feb 1;37(2):239-265. doi: 10.1162/jocn_a_02251.
Voices carry a vast amount of information about speakers (e.g., emotional state; spatial location). Neuroimaging studies postulate that spatial ("where") and emotional ("what") cues are processed by partially independent processing streams. Although behavioral evidence reveals interactions between emotion and space, the temporal dynamics of these processes in the brain and its modulation by attention remain unknown. We investigated whether and how spatial and emotional features interact during voice processing as a function of attention focus. Spatialized nonverbal vocalizations differing in valence (neutral, amusement, anger) were presented at different locations around the head, whereas listeners discriminated either the spatial location or emotional quality of the voice. Neural activity was measured with ERPs of the EEG. Affective ratings were collected at the end of the EEG session. Emotional vocalizations elicited decreased N1 but increased P2 and late positive potential amplitudes. Interactions of space and emotion occurred at the salience detection stage: neutral vocalizations presented at right (vs. left) locations elicited increased P2 amplitudes, but no such differences were observed for emotional vocalizations. When task instructions involved emotion categorization, the P2 was increased for vocalizations presented at front (vs. back) locations. Behaviorally, only valence and arousal ratings showed emotion-space interactions. These findings suggest that emotional representations are activated earlier than spatial representations in voice processing. The perceptual prioritization of emotional cues occurred irrespective of task instructions but was not paralleled by an augmented stimulus representation in space. These findings support the differential responding to emotional information by auditory processing pathways.
声音携带了关于说话者的大量信息（例如，情绪状态；空间位置）。神经影像学研究推测，空间（“哪里”）和情绪（“什么”）线索由部分独立的处理流进行处理。尽管行为证据揭示了情绪与空间之间的相互作用，但这些过程在大脑中的时间动态及其受注意力的调节仍不清楚。我们研究了在语音处理过程中，空间和情绪特征是否以及如何作为注意力焦点的函数相互作用。在头部周围的不同位置呈现了效价不同（中性、愉悦、愤怒）的空间化非语言发声，而听众则辨别声音的空间位置或情绪质量。用脑电图的事件相关电位测量神经活动。在脑电图 session 结束时收集情感评分。情绪化发声引发 N1 波幅降低，但 P2 波幅和晚期正电位波幅增加。空间和情绪的相互作用发生在显著性检测阶段：在右侧（相对于左侧）位置呈现的中性发声引发 P2 波幅增加，但对于情绪化发声未观察到此类差异。当任务指令涉及情绪分类时，在前方（相对于后方）位置呈现的发声的 P2 波幅增加。在行为上，只有效价和唤醒评分显示出情绪 - 空间相互作用。这些发现表明，在语音处理中，情绪表征比空间表征更早被激活。情绪线索的感知优先级不受任务指令的影响，但在空间上并没有伴随着增强的刺激表征。这些发现支持了听觉处理通路对情绪信息的差异反应。
