Neural Foundations of Emotional Speech Processing

Abstract

We review the current state of research on the neural bases of emotional speech perception and raise some issues for future research. First, we situate the key questions in this research by discussing the verbal and vocal channels that constitute the emotional message in spoken language. Second, we glance at four hypotheses regarding where in the brain emotional prosody is processed. Finally, we describe relevant results from neuroimaging studies. We conclude that emotional speech perception is most likely accomplished by a bilateral temporo-frontal network with subcortical involvement. The exact contribution of each hemisphere seems to depend on the stimulus features and task demands of research paradigms and remains to be determined.