Identifying neural components of emotion in free conversation with fMRI

To evaluate neural components of emotional utterance, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) was operated during free conversation. Timing and types of emotional elements such as anger, sorrow, joy, excitement and calmness were identified by the Voice Emotion Analysis (VEA) system. Conducting the modified event-related analysis, we found increased Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) activities during free conversation in the lateral frontal cortex (BA47). Furthermore, the dorsolateral frontal cortex (BA45) and the limbic cortex were activated when the VEA system indicated excitement and anger, respectively. Since these areas are consistent with the neural circuits subserving emotional speech, the results confirm the neurophysiological correlates of emotion extracted by specific patterns of phonetic parameters during speech production.