Biomaterial Database

What the study of voice recognition in normal subjects and brain-damaged patients tells us about models of familiar people recognition. 2011

Guido Gainotti

Center for Neuropsychological Research, Department of Neurosciences, Università Cattolica/Policlinico Gemelli, Servizio di Neuropsicologia, Policlinico Gemelli, Largo A. Gemelli, 8, 00168 Rome, Italy. gainotti@rm.unicatt.it

In recent years it has been shown that a disorder in recognizing familiar people can be observed in patients with lesions affecting the anterior parts of the temporal lobes and that these disorders can be multi-modal, simultaneously affecting the visual, auditory and linguistic channels that allow person identification. Several authors have also shown that patients with right anterior temporal atrophy are more impaired in assessing familiarity and in retrieving person-specific semantic information from faces than from names, whereas the opposite pattern of performance can be observed in patients with left temporal lobe atrophy. Voice recognition disorders have been studied much less even despite their clinical and theoretical importance. The aim of the present review, therefore, was to compare recognition of familiar faces and voices, taking into account not only results obtained in individual patients with right anterior temporal lesions, but also those of group studies of unselected right- and left brain-damaged patients and results of experimental investigations conducted on face and voice recognition in normal subjects. Results of the review showed that: (1) voice recognition disorders are mainly due to right temporal lesions, similarly to face recognition disorders; (2) famous voice recognition disorders can be dissociated from unfamiliar voice discrimination impairments; (3) although face and voice recognition disorders tend to co-occur, they can also dissociate and in these patients there is a prevalent involvement of the right fusiform gyrus when face recognition disorders are on the foreground, and of the right superior temporal gyrus when voice recognition disorders are prominent; (4) normal subjects have greater difficulty evaluating familiarity and drawing semantic information from the voices than from the faces of celebrities. These data are at variance with models which assume that familiarity feelings may be generated at the level of person identity nodes (PINs) and that the latter may be considered as modality-free gateways to single semantic systems in which information about people is stored in an amodal format.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007839	Functional Laterality	Behavioral manifestations of cerebral dominance in which there is preferential use and superior functioning of either the left or the right side, as in the preferred use of the right hand or right foot.	Ambidexterity,Behavioral Laterality,Handedness,Laterality of Motor Control,Mirror Writing,Laterality, Behavioral,Laterality, Functional,Mirror Writings,Motor Control Laterality,Writing, Mirror,Writings, Mirror
D008959	Models, Neurological	Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of the neurological system, processes or phenomena; includes the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.	Neurologic Models,Model, Neurological,Neurologic Model,Neurological Model,Neurological Models,Model, Neurologic,Models, Neurologic
D010364	Pattern Recognition, Visual	Mental process to visually perceive a critical number of facts (the pattern), such as characters, shapes, displays, or designs.	Recognition, Visual Pattern,Visual Pattern Recognition
D001925	Brain Damage, Chronic	A condition characterized by long-standing brain dysfunction or damage, usually of three months duration or longer. Potential etiologies include BRAIN INFARCTION; certain NEURODEGENERATIVE DISORDERS; CRANIOCEREBRAL TRAUMA; ANOXIA, BRAIN; ENCEPHALITIS; certain NEUROTOXICITY SYNDROMES; metabolic disorders (see BRAIN DISEASES, METABOLIC); and other conditions.	Encephalopathy, Chronic,Chronic Encephalopathy,Chronic Brain Damage
D005145	Face	The anterior portion of the head that includes the skin, muscles, and structures of the forehead, eyes, nose, mouth, cheeks, and jaw.	Faces
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000377	Agnosia	Loss of the ability to comprehend the meaning or recognize the importance of various forms of stimulation that cannot be attributed to impairment of a primary sensory modality. Tactile agnosia is characterized by an inability to perceive the shape and nature of an object by touch alone, despite unimpaired sensation to light touch, position, and other primary sensory modalities.	Auditory Agnosia,Finger Agnosia,Sensory Agnosia,Tactile Agnosia,Visual Agnosia,Agnosia for Pain,Agnosia for Smell,Agnosia for Taste,Agnosia for Temperature,Anosognosia,Auditory Agnosia, Congenital,Body-Image Agnosia,Congenital Auditory Agnosia,Developmental Agnosia,Gustatory Agnosia,Ideational Agnosia,Olfactory Agnosia,Position Agnosia,Somatosensory Agnosia,Time Agnosia,Topographical Agnosia,Visual Agnosia for Objects,Visual Disorientation Syndrome,Visuospatial Agnosia,Agnosia for Tastes,Agnosia, Auditory,Agnosia, Body-Image,Agnosia, Congenital Auditory,Agnosia, Developmental,Agnosia, Finger,Agnosia, Gustatory,Agnosia, Ideational,Agnosia, Olfactory,Agnosia, Position,Agnosia, Sensory,Agnosia, Somatosensory,Agnosia, Tactile,Agnosia, Time,Agnosia, Topographical,Agnosia, Visual,Agnosia, Visuospatial,Agnosias,Agnosias, Auditory,Agnosias, Body-Image,Agnosias, Congenital Auditory,Agnosias, Developmental,Agnosias, Finger,Agnosias, Ideational,Agnosias, Olfactory,Agnosias, Position,Agnosias, Sensory,Agnosias, Somatosensory,Agnosias, Tactile,Agnosias, Time,Agnosias, Topographical,Agnosias, Visual,Agnosias, Visuospatial,Anosognosias,Auditory Agnosias,Auditory Agnosias, Congenital,Body Image Agnosia,Body-Image Agnosias,Congenital Auditory Agnosias,Developmental Agnosias,Finger Agnosias,Ideational Agnosias,Olfactory Agnosias,Position Agnosias,Sensory Agnosias,Somatosensory Agnosias,Syndrome, Visual Disorientation,Syndromes, Visual Disorientation,Tactile Agnosias,Time Agnosias,Topographical Agnosias,Visual Agnosias,Visual Disorientation Syndromes,Visuospatial Agnosias
D001307	Auditory Perception	The process whereby auditory stimuli are selected, organized, and interpreted by the organism.	Auditory Processing,Perception, Auditory,Processing, Auditory
D013702	Temporal Lobe	Lower lateral part of the cerebral hemisphere responsible for auditory, olfactory, and semantic processing. It is located inferior to the lateral fissure and anterior to the OCCIPITAL LOBE.	Anterior Temporal Lobe,Brodmann Area 20,Brodmann Area 21,Brodmann Area 22,Brodmann Area 37,Brodmann Area 38,Brodmann Area 52,Brodmann's Area 20,Brodmann's Area 21,Brodmann's Area 22,Brodmann's Area 37,Brodmann's Area 38,Brodmann's Area 52,Inferior Temporal Gyrus,Middle Temporal Gyrus,Parainsular Area,Fusiform Gyrus,Gyrus Fusiformis,Gyrus Temporalis Superior,Inferior Horn of Lateral Ventricle,Inferior Horn of the Lateral Ventricle,Lateral Occipito-Temporal Gyrus,Lateral Occipitotemporal Gyrus,Occipitotemporal Gyrus,Planum Polare,Superior Temporal Gyrus,Temporal Cortex,Temporal Gyrus,Temporal Horn,Temporal Horn of the Lateral Ventricle,Temporal Operculum,Temporal Region,Temporal Sulcus,Anterior Temporal Lobes,Area 20, Brodmann,Area 20, Brodmann's,Area 21, Brodmann,Area 21, Brodmann's,Area 22, Brodmann,Area 22, Brodmann's,Area 37, Brodmann,Area 37, Brodmann's,Area 38, Brodmann,Area 38, Brodmann's,Area 52, Brodmann,Area 52, Brodmann's,Area, Parainsular,Areas, Parainsular,Brodmanns Area 20,Brodmanns Area 21,Brodmanns Area 22,Brodmanns Area 37,Brodmanns Area 38,Brodmanns Area 52,Cortex, Temporal,Gyrus, Fusiform,Gyrus, Inferior Temporal,Gyrus, Lateral Occipito-Temporal,Gyrus, Lateral Occipitotemporal,Gyrus, Middle Temporal,Gyrus, Occipitotemporal,Gyrus, Superior Temporal,Gyrus, Temporal,Horn, Temporal,Lateral Occipito Temporal Gyrus,Lobe, Anterior Temporal,Lobe, Temporal,Occipito-Temporal Gyrus, Lateral,Occipitotemporal Gyrus, Lateral,Operculum, Temporal,Parainsular Areas,Region, Temporal,Sulcus, Temporal,Temporal Cortices,Temporal Gyrus, Inferior,Temporal Gyrus, Middle,Temporal Gyrus, Superior,Temporal Horns,Temporal Lobe, Anterior,Temporal Lobes,Temporal Lobes, Anterior,Temporal Regions
D014796	Visual Perception	The selecting and organizing of visual stimuli based on the individual's past experience.	Visual Processing,Perception, Visual,Processing, Visual