ArticleOxford open neuroscience2026
Universal and culture-tuned neural codes for vocal emotion: an fMRI MVPA study using Japanese and Canadian voices.
Article in Oxford open neuroscience, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Understanding how the human brain decodes nonverbal emotional voices is essential for elucidating the neural basis of social cognition and for advancing research on affective dysfunction in psychiatric disorders. Using functional MRI and multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA), we investigated both universal and culture-tuned neural mechanisms underlying emotional voice perception. Forty-one healthy adults (22 Asian, 19 Western participants) listened to five emotions-angry, sad, neutral, happy, and pleased-expressed by Japanese (Tokyo Affective Voices, TAV) and Canadian (Montreal Affective Voices, MAV) actors. Whole-brain MVPA revealed robust decoding in bilateral superior temporal gyri, inferior and middle frontal gyri, anterior cingulate cortex, and insula. Sadness showed the most stable representation, whereas pleasure engaged medial prefrontal and cingulate regions, reflecting internally oriented processing of positive affect. Modest cultural effects emerged, with higher decoding for neutral and happy TAV stimuli. These findings suggest a framework for objectively characterizing emotional voice processing across cultural contexts. Such an approach may provide a basis for future translational research aimed at informing more objective approaches to the study of social and affective functioning, while further validation will be required.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.