Neural mechanisms for the own-voice perception

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K18693
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Research (Exploratory)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Psychology and related fields
• Research Institution: The University of Tokyo
• Principal Investigator: Yotsumoto Yuko 東京大学, 大学院総合文化研究科, 准教授 (80580927)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-06-30 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: own voice / auditory cortex / neural correlate

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Humans show keen sensitivity when it comes to the perception of their own voices, and they are able to detect not only the differences between themselves and others but also the slight modulations of their own voices. In this research, we examined the neural mechanisms underlying such sensitive perception of one’s own voice.
Our results indicated that the superior temporal gyrus showed neural sharpening on presentation of voices and showed decreased activation to their own voice. To summarize, we showed that the superior temporal gyrus is involved in detecting slight modulations of one’s own voice and in self-recognition.

Free Research Field

認知神経科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

自分の声の知覚と関係する脳活動の関係を明らかにしたこの研究は、「自己とは何か」というヒトの自己認知に関する本質的な問いに関して、新たな知見を提供した。