Neural correlates of categorical linguistic and gradient paralinguistic intonation

Multiple cues interact to signal multiple functions in intonation simultaneously which makes intonation notoriously complex to analyze. The Autosegmental-Metrical model for intonation analysis has proved to be an excellent vehicle for separating the components, but evidence for the phonetics/phonology dichotomy on which it hinges has proved elusive. Advocating a multidisciplinary approach, this paper presents ERP evidence that different types of intonational information – linguistic/phonological and paralinguistic/phonetic – recruit overlapping but distinct neural systems, which differ not only in their neural architecture, but also in the time-course of activation in the subcomponents of the systems. We argue that the findings can be accounted for in a model in which linguistic (phonological) intonation engages a language-specific frontotemporal system which is specialised for processing categorical linguistic information, while paralinguistic intonation, which reflects biological imperatives more directly, engages a distributed bilateral system which supports perceptual and cognitive processing more generally.