Decoding musical and vocal emotions

Abstract

Many studies support the idea of common neural substrates for the perception of vocal and musical emotions. It is proposed that music, in order to make us perceive emotions, recruits the emotional circuits that evolved mainly for the processing of biologically important vocalizations (e.g., cries, screams). Although some studies have found great similarities between voice and music in terms of acoustic cues (emotional expression) and neural correlates (emotional processing), some studies reported differences specific to each medium. However, it is possible that the differences described may not be specific to the medium, but may instead be specific to the stimuli used (e.g., complexity, length). To understand how these vocal and musical emotions are perceived and how they can be affected by hearing impairments, we assessed recognition of the most basic forms of auditory emotion (musical/vocal bursts) through a series of studies in normal hearing individuals and in cochlear implant users. Multi-voxel pattern analyses of fMRI images provide evidence for a shared neural code for processing musical and vocal emotions. Correlational analyses of emotional ratings helped highlight the importance of timbral acoustic cues (brightness, energy, and roughness) common to voice and music for emotion perception in cochlear implant users.