Understanding Emotional Prosody Activates Right Hemisphere Regions

TLDR

Aprosodias are linked to right hemisphere dysfunction, while propositional language deficits are associated with left hemisphere disease, yet the specific brain regions for emotional prosody recognition in healthy individuals remain unclear. The study aimed to identify the brain regions involved in understanding emotional prosody and to determine whether these differ from those engaged in processing emotion based on propositional content. Thirteen healthy participants underwent 15O‑water PET while listening to spoken English sentences, performing tasks that required judging emotional propositional content, emotional intonation, or repeating a word as a control. Propositional content processing engaged bilateral prefrontal cortex, predominantly left, whereas emotional prosody elicited activation of the right prefrontal cortex.

Abstract

<h3>Background:</h3> Defects in expressing or understanding the affective or emotional tone of speech (aprosodias) have been associated with right hemisphere dysfunction, while defects of propositional language have been linked to left hemisphere disease. The brain regions involved in recognition of emotional prosody in healthy subjects is less clear. <h3>Objectives:</h3> To investigate the brain regions involved in understanding emotional prosody and to determine whether these differ from those involved in understanding emotion based on propositional content. <h3>Methods:</h3> We studied 13 healthy subjects using water labeled with radioactive oxygen 15 and positron emission tomography while they listened to 3 similar sets of spoken English sentences. In different tasks, their responses were based on the emotional propositional content, on the emotional intonation of the sentence (prosody), or on their ability to repeat the second word in the sentence (control). <h3>Results:</h3> Understanding propositional content activated the prefrontal cortex bilaterally, on the left more than on the right. In contrast, responding to the emotional prosody activated the right prefrontal cortex. <h3>Conclusion:</h3> Neurologically healthy subjects activate right hemisphere regions during emotional prosody recognition.