Neural correlates of explicit social judgments on vocal stimuli.
Functional neuroimaging research on the neural basis of social evaluation has traditionally focused on face perception paradigms. Thus, little is known about the neurobiology of social evaluation processes based on auditory cues, such as voices. To investigate the top-down effects of social trait judgments on voices, hemodynamic responses of 44 healthy participants were measured during social trait (trustworthiness [TR] and attractiveness [AT]), emotional (happiness, HA), and cognitive (age, AG) voice judgments. Relative to HA and AG judgments, TR and AT judgments both engaged the bilateral inferior parietal cortex (IPC; area PGa) and the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) extending into the perigenual anterior cingulate cortex. This dmPFC activation overlapped with previously reported areas specifically involved in social judgments on 'faces.' Moreover, social trait judgments were expected to share neural correlates with emotional HA and cognitive AG judgments. Comparison of effects pertaining to social, social-emotional, and social-cognitive appraisal processes revealed a dissociation of the left IPC into 3 functional subregions assigned to distinct cytoarchitectonic subdivisions. In total, the dmPFC is proposed to assume a central role in social attribution processes across sensory qualities. In social judgments on voices, IPC activity shifts from rostral processing of more emotional judgment facets to caudal processing of more cognitive judgment facets.
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany.
Lukas
L
Hensel
Department of Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany JARA-BRAIN, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany.
Danilo
D
Bzdok
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany.
Veronika I
VI
Müller
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany C. and O. Vogt Institute for Brain Research, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany JARA-BRAIN, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany.
Karl
K
Zilles
Institute of Neuroscience and Medicine (INM-1), Research Centre Jülich, Jülich, Germany Institute of Clinical Neuroscience and Medical Psychology, Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany JARA-BRAIN, Jülich-Aachen Research Alliance, Jülich, Germany.
Simon B
SB
Eickhoff
D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D003071:Cognition; D004644:Emotions; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007091:Image Processing, Computer-Assisted; D007600:Judgment; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010296:Parietal Lobe / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D012938:Social Perception; D035502:Trust / Q000523:psychology; D014831:Voice; D055815:Young Adult
fMRI; social cognition; social judgments; temporo-parietal junction; voice evaluation