Biology subjects

BELIN, P.

Publications and source records attributed to BELIN, P..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Neural pathways of voice perception: a comparative dMRI study between humans and macaques.

The processing of vocal stimuli in the human brain involves multiple regions that are selectively tuned to voice information. Similarly, voice-sensitive areas have been identified in macaques, suggesting a common neural mechanism across species. However, the structural connectivity underlying voice perception in both humans and macaques remains poorly understood. In this study, we investigate the structural connectivity of voice-sensitive regions in 4 humans and 3 macaques using awake functional MRI and diffusion MRI techniques. Our findings reveal that while humans and macaques differ in the anatomical organization of projections from the anterior Temporal Voice Area (aTVA), the organization of projections from the primary auditory cortex (A1) is nearly identical. Our results also demonstrate distinct connectivity patterns between the vocal areas of the two species, as well as an opposite pattern of lateralization of aTVA-A1 connectivity in humans and macaques. These results enhance our understanding of the neural circuits involved in voice perception and provide valuable insights into the comparative neurobiology of vocal communication.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

Voice identity invariance by anterior temporal lobe neurons

The ability to recognize speakers by their voice despite acoustical variation plays a significant role in primate social interactions. While neurons in the macaque anterior temporal lobe (ATL) show invariance to face viewpoint, whether they also encode abstract representations of caller identity is not known. Here we show that neurons in the voice-selective ATL of two macaques show invariance to voice identity via dynamic representations that minimize within-caller neuronal distances while maintaining distinct neural trajectories for different individuals. A small proportion of highly identity-selective neurons plays a central role although less selective neurons are also informative. Our findings provide a neural basis for voice identity recognition in primates and highlight the ATL as a key hub for integrating perceptual voice features into higher-level identity representations.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2024

From movements to words: action monitoring in the medial frontal cortex along a caudal to rostral prediction error gradient

Speech error monitoring recruits the medial frontal cortex (MFC) region in the human brain. Error monitoring-related activity in the MFC has been interpreted both in terms of conflict monitoring and feedback-driven control, but as similar regions of the MFC are implicated in various levels of behavioral control ranging from basic motor movement control to high-level cognitive control functions, a more comprehensive account is needed. Moreover, as speech errors and other actions that involve varying control demands engage a widespread yet partially overlapping set of regions of the MFC, such an account should ideally explain the anatomical distribution of error-related functional activations within the MFC. Here we wanted to assess the hypothesis that the MFC has a similar role in the evaluation of action outcomes for motor and mental actions, operating along a rostral-caudal gradient of higher-lower level control demands involving prediction errors from both sensory and epistemic sources. To this end, we conducted an individual-specific annotation of task-fMRI BOLD activation peaks related to speech errors versus correct productions (i.e. that involve the largest cognitive control demands, Study I and II), tongue movement monitoring (i.e. that involve an intermediate level of cognitive and motor control demands) and tongue movement (i.e. that involve only motor control demands, Study II) in the MFC region. Results revealed overlapping clusters across the three contrasts across the MFC, but importantly both the number of peaks and their relative position along the rostral caudal axis were consistent with a hierarchical rostral caudal processing gradient in the MFC. While tongue movement showed more caudal activation in the MFC, speech errors showed more rostral activation, and tongue movement monitoring patterned in between. Furthermore, the combined results of both studies suggested that activation peaks were located more dorsally for participants that had a paracingulate gyrus, replicating a previously documented effect for movement and further supporting a common functional role of the MFC across very distinct actions.

neuroscience↗