Neurons controlling voluntary vocalization in the macaque ventral premotor cortex

The voluntary control of phonation is a crucial achievement in the evolution of speech. In humans, ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and Broca's area are known to be involved in voluntary phonation. In contrast, no neurophysiological data are available about the role of the oro-facial sector of non...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:PloS one 2011-11, Vol.6 (11), p.e26822-e26822
Main Authors: Coudé, Gino, Ferrari, Pier Francesco, Rodà, Francesca, Maranesi, Monica, Borelli, Eleonora, Veroni, Vania, Monti, Fabio, Rozzi, Stefano, Fogassi, Leonardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animal Communication
Animals
Biological evolution
Biology
Broca's area
Communication
Conditioning
Conditioning, Operant
Cortex (premotor)
Emissions control
Evolution
Evolutionary biology
Experiments
Food
Frontal lobe
Larynx
Macaca nemestrina
Microelectrodes
Monkeys
Monkeys & apes
Motor Cortex - cytology
Motor Cortex - physiology
Motor neurons
Neurons
Neurons - physiology
Neurophysiology
Phonation
Primates
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Speech
Studies
Vocalization behavior
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Summary:The voluntary control of phonation is a crucial achievement in the evolution of speech. In humans, ventral premotor cortex (PMv) and Broca's area are known to be involved in voluntary phonation. In contrast, no neurophysiological data are available about the role of the oro-facial sector of nonhuman primates PMv in this function. In order to address this issue, we recorded PMv neurons from two monkeys trained to emit coo-calls. Results showed that a population of motor neurons specifically fire during vocalization. About two thirds of them discharged before sound onset, while the remaining were time-locked with it. The response of vocalization-selective neurons was present only during conditioned (voluntary) but not spontaneous (emotional) sound emission. These data suggest that the control of vocal production exerted by PMv neurons constitutes a newly emerging property in the monkey lineage, shedding light on the evolution of phonation-based communication from a nonhuman primate species.
ISSN:1932-6203
1932-6203
DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0026822