When we hear a familiar voice, our brain uses the same region that activates when it sees the person’s face to recognize the sounds emitted, according to a recent study.
- The fusiform gyrus is found in the temporal lobe of the brain.
- The temporal lobe is involved in short-term memory through the hippocampus and in memory for emotional responses through the amygdala.
In general, it is assumed that our ears help us identify voices and our eyes allow us to discern faces. But according to researchers at the University of Pittsburgh (USA), voice and face recognition are more intimately linked than previously thought. In a study published in the journal Journal of Neurophysiology, scientists have attempted to measure the activity of a brain region whose main role is to consolidate and process visual information. Their objective ? Determine if this region is also used when people are exposed to familiar voices.
5 epileptic patients had to identify the voices or faces of American presidents
For the purposes of the work, the team recruited five epileptic patients who, as part of their medical treatment, had electrodes temporarily implanted to measure their brain activity in order to determine the origin of their seizures. In this research, the authors showed them photos of three American presidents (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama) or had them listen to short recordings of their voices. While the participants had to identify their voice or face, the researchers analyzed their neural responses.
“People can identify a voice faster when they associate it with the person’s face”
Recordings of electrical activity from the region of the brain responsible for processing visual cues, called the “fusiform gyrus,” revealed that the same region activated when participants heard familiar voices. “Thanks to behavioral research, we know that people can identify a familiar voice faster and more accurately when they associate it with the speaker’s face, but we’ve never had a good explanation of why it happens”, said Taylor Abel, lead author of the work, in a statement.
“These results show that the auditory and visual areas interact rapidly when we identify people, and that they do not function in isolation. In addition to enriching our understanding of basic brain functioning, our study explains the mechanisms behind ‘origin of disorders where voice or face recognition is compromised, as in certain dementias or related disorders’, concluded the team.