Vocalization-induced enhancement of the auditory cortex responsiveness during voice F0 feedback perturbation

Abstract

The present study investigated whether self-vocalization enhances auditory neural responsiveness to voice pitch feedback perturbation and how this vocalization-induced neural modulation can be affected by the extent of the feedback deviation. Event-related potentials (ERPs) were recorded in 15 subjects in response to +100, +200 and +500 cents pitch-shifted voice auditory feedback during active vocalization and passive listening to the playback of the self-produced vocalizations. The amplitude of the evoked P(1) (latency: 73.51 ms) and P(2) (latency: 199.55 ms) ERP components in response to feedback perturbation were significantly larger during vocalization than listening. The difference between P(2) peak amplitudes during vocalization vs. listening was shown to be significantly larger for +100 than +500 cents stimulus. Results indicate that the human auditory cortex is more responsive to voice F(0) feedback perturbations during vocalization than passive listening. Greater vocalization-induced enhancement of the auditory responsiveness to smaller feedback perturbations may imply that the audio-vocal system detects and corrects for errors in vocal production that closely match the expected vocal output. Findings of this study support previous suggestions regarding the enhanced auditory sensitivity to feedback alterations during self-vocalization, which may serve the purpose of feedback-based monitoring of one's voice.