title: Ready for action: a role for the human midbrain in responding to infant vocalizations.
abstract: Infant vocalizations are among the most biologically salient sounds in the environment and can draw the listener to the infant rapidly in both times of distress and joy. A region of the midbrain, the periaqueductal gray (PAG), has long been implicated in the control of urgent, survival-related behaviours. To test for PAG involvement in the processing of infant vocalizations, we recorded local field potentials from macroelectrodes implanted in this region in four adults who had undergone deep brain stimulation. We found a significant difference occurring as early as 49 ms after hearing a sound in activity recorded from the PAG in response to infant vocalizations compared with constructed control sounds and adult and animal affective vocalizations. This difference was not present in recordings from thalamic electrodes implanted in three of the patients. Time frequency analyses revealed distinct patterns of activity in the PAG for infant vocalisations, constructed control sounds and adult and animal vocalisations. These results suggest that human infant vocalizations can be discriminated from other emotional or acoustically similar sounds early in the auditory pathway. We propose that this specific, rapid activity in response to infant vocalizations may reflect the initiation of a state of heightened alertness necessary to instigate protective caregiving.
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UKUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK morten.kringelbach@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Christine E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Parsons
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UKUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK morten.kringelbach@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Katherine S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UKUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joensson
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: Elvira
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brattico
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: Jonathan A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Hyam
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: Alan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Green
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK.
authors.forename: Tipu Z
authors.initials: TZ
authors.lastname: Aziz
authors.affiliation: University Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UKUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UKUniversity Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX3 7JX, UK, Department of Clinical Medicine, Center of Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Aarhus University, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark, Cognitive Brain Research Unit, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, University of Helsinki and Center of Excellence in Interdisciplinary Music Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, and Department of Neurosurgery, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, OX3 9DU, UK morten.kringelbach@psych.ox.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Morten L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Kringelbach
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D002663:Child Language; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D003448:Crying; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation; D004192:Discrimination, Psychological / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D058542:Implantable Neurostimulators; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000502:physiology*; D013788:Thalamus / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior; D014828:Vocalization, Animal
keywords: deep brain stimulation; infant; local field potentials; midbrain; parenting; periaqueductal gray