Does it talk the talk? On the role of basal ganglia in emotive speech processing

Ackermann et al.'s phylogenetic account of speech argues that the basal ganglia imbue speech with emotive content. However, a body of work on auditory/emotive processing is inconsistent with attributing this function exclusively to these structures. The account further overlooks the possibility that the emotion-integration function may be at least in part mediated by the cortico-ponto-cerebellar system.