speech

Does the emotion in our voice have a lasting effect? According to Annett Schirmer and colleagues from the National University of Singapore, emotion helps us recognize words quicker and more accurately straight away. In the longer term however, we do not remember emotionally intoned speech as accurately as neutral speech. When we do remember the words, they have acquired an emotional value; for example words spoken in a sad voice are remembered as more negative than words spoken in a neutral voice.

Unlike human speech, most of the squeaks, calls, and songs produced in the animal kingdom do not have to be learned -- the vast majority of animals rely on innate vocalizations for their acoustic communications. Only a few, such as songbirds, whales, and dolphins, are known to be vocal learners, modifying the sequence or pitch of their sounds based on what they hear from other members of their species. New evidence suggests another animal can be added to that list: mice.