Self-other voice discrimination task: A potential neuropsychological tool for clinical assessment of self-related deficits

Philippe Voruz; Pavo Orepic; Selim Yahia Coll; Julien Haemmerli; Olaf Blanke; Julie Anne Péron; Karl Schaller; Giannina Rita Iannotti

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38711

Self-other voice discrimination task: A potential neuropsychological tool for clinical assessment of self-related deficits

Heliyon. 2024 Oct 2;10(19):e38711. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38711. eCollection 2024 Oct 15.

Authors

Philippe Voruz^{1

2}, Pavo Orepic³, Selim Yahia Coll^{1

4}, Julien Haemmerli¹, Olaf Blanke⁵, Julie Anne Péron², Karl Schaller^{1

6}, Giannina Rita Iannotti^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
² Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology Laboratory, Faculty of Psychology, University of Geneva, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
³ Department of Basic Neurosciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1202, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁴ Laboratory of Cognitive Neurorehabilitation, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁵ Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience, Neuro-X Institute and Brain Mind Institute, Faculty of Life Sciences, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 1211, Geneva, Switzerland.
⁶ NeuroCentre, University Hospitals of Geneva, 1205, Geneva, Switzerland.

Abstract

Background: Deficits in self are commonly described through different neuro-pathologies, based on clinical evaluations and experimental paradigms. However, currently available approaches lack appropriate clinical validation, making objective evaluation and discrimination of self-related deficits challenging.

Methods: We applied a statistical standardized method to assess the clinical discriminatory capacity of a Self-Other Voice Discrimination (SOVD) task. This task, validated experimentally as a marker for self-related deficits, was administered to 17 patients eligible for neurosurgery due to focal hemispheric brain tumors or epileptic lesions.

Results: The clinical discriminatory capacity of the SOVD task was evident in three patients who exhibited impairments for self-voice perception that could not be predicted by other neuropsychological deficits. Impairments in other-voice perception were linked to inhibitory neuropsychological deficits, suggesting a potential association with executive deficits in voice recognition.

Conclusions: This exploratory study highlights the clinical discriminatory potential of the SOVD task and suggests that it could complement the standard neuropsychological assessment, paving the way for enhanced diagnoses and tailored treatments for self-related deficits.