TY - JOUR
T1 - Neural sensitivity to human voices
T2 - ERP evidence of task and attentional influences
AU - Levy, Daniel A.
AU - Granot, Roni
AU - Bentin, Shlomo
PY - 2003/3
Y1 - 2003/3
N2 - In an earlier study, we found that human voices evoked a positive event-related potential (ERP) peaking at ∼ 320 ms after stimulus onset, distinctive from those elicited by instrumental tones. Here we show that though similar in latency to the Novelty P3, this Voice-Sensitive Response (VSR) differs in antecedent conditions and scalp distribution. Furthermore, when participants were not attending to stimuli, the response to voices was undistinguished from other harmonic stimuli (strings, winds, and brass). During a task requiring attending to a feature other than timbre, voices were not distinguished from voicelike stimuli (strings), but were distinguished from other harmonic stimuli. We suggest that the component elicited by voices and similar sounds reflects the allocation of attention on the basis of stimulus significance (as opposed to novelty), and propose an explanation of the task and attentional factors that contribute to the effect.
AB - In an earlier study, we found that human voices evoked a positive event-related potential (ERP) peaking at ∼ 320 ms after stimulus onset, distinctive from those elicited by instrumental tones. Here we show that though similar in latency to the Novelty P3, this Voice-Sensitive Response (VSR) differs in antecedent conditions and scalp distribution. Furthermore, when participants were not attending to stimuli, the response to voices was undistinguished from other harmonic stimuli (strings, winds, and brass). During a task requiring attending to a feature other than timbre, voices were not distinguished from voicelike stimuli (strings), but were distinguished from other harmonic stimuli. We suggest that the component elicited by voices and similar sounds reflects the allocation of attention on the basis of stimulus significance (as opposed to novelty), and propose an explanation of the task and attentional factors that contribute to the effect.
KW - Attention
KW - Auditory processing
KW - ERPs
KW - Human voice perception
KW - Novelty P3
KW - VSR
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=12244296734&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/1469-8986.00031
DO - 10.1111/1469-8986.00031
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C2 - 12820870
AN - SCOPUS:12244296734
SN - 0048-5772
VL - 40
SP - 291
EP - 305
JO - Psychophysiology
JF - Psychophysiology
IS - 2
ER -